
Class 
Book. 



-^7^ 



Gopyriglit)^"- 



rfrj 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




Courtesy, Baker Art Gallery, 
Columbus, Ohio. 



WILLIAM McKIXLF.Y. 



iprlKutbu iH^mnnal KhhvtBBtB 

+ + + 

Delivered at the Annual McKinley Day Banquet of 

The Tippecai^oe Club, Ct.evelaxd, Ohio, 

Commemorative of the Birth of 

MtUtam JirlKinlpij 



Together with Notable Addresses, Commemorati\e 

of the Life and Services 

of 

THE MARTYRED PRESIDENT, 

Delivered on Other Occasions, 

+ "f + 

Including the Proceedings of the Legislature of 
New York following the Death of McKinley. 



Published by 

The Tippecanoe Club Company 

Cleveland, Ohio. 






+ •}• + 

COPYRIGHTED JANUARY, 1913 
BY THE TIPPECANOE CLUB COMPANY 

4* Hh + 



€C!.A332377 



CONTENTS. 

Introduction 

W. R. Coates 

McKinley Day in 1904 1 

]S[cKinley as President 3 

Ralph D. Cole 

President McKinley 11 

Caspar Wistar Hiatt 

Memories of McKinley 21 

Andrew L. Harris 

McKinley, the Representative American 33 

Mattoon M. Curtis 

The Place of McKinley in History 45 

Paul F. Sutphen 

McKinley the Man 55 

John J. McCook 

William McKinley 59 

John A. Shauck 

McKinley 66 

John Wesley Hill 

William McKinley 77 

Dan F. Bradley 

McKinley — Man and Patriot 89 

Andrew B. Meldrum 

+ + + 



Memorial Address 107 

John Hay 

Proceedings of the New York Legislature 135 

Memorial Address 153 

Charles Emory Smith 

Dedicatory Address 179 

William E. Day 

Dedicatory Poem 201 

James Whitcomb Riley 

Dedicatory Address 203 

Theodore Roosevelt 

William McKinley 213 

Marlin E. Olmsted 



William McKinley , 



223 



Charles R. Miller 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Portrait of William McKiiiley Frontispiece 

Facing page 

Birthplace of McKinley, Niles, Ohio 8 

The McKinley Home, Canton, Ohio .'50 

Portrait of Myron T. Herrick 56"' 

Portrait of Marcus A. Hanna 74 

Passing the Reviewing Stand at the Dedication 

of the McKinley Monument, Canton, O lO-t 

McKinley Statue, Columbus, Ohio 17(5 

McKinley Statue and Monument, Canton, Ohio 196"' 

Inscription on Monument, Canton, Ohio 198 

McKinley Monument (front view) Canton, Ohio 210' 

McKinley Monument (rear view) Canton, Ohio 220" 



■y 



INTRODUCTION 

+ + + 

It is the pride and boast of America that the 
humblest boy, whose eyes first see the light in pov- 
erty and obscurity, may rise to the most exalted po- 
sition in the land. It is the pride and boast of America 
that the humblest do rise to become first in power and 
first in the affections of the people. 

It is singularly true that of the three Presidents, 
whose names are enrolled on the immortal tablet of 
martyrdom, all were born poor and obscure with no 
more possibilities before them than those that con- 
front every boy, that, today, looks upward to the 
shining sun or the blue sky above him. 

Abraham Lincoln, the son of "one of the most 
shiftless of the poor whites of Kentucky," climbed to 
his straw bed in their log cabin hut, took off his 
homespun, dyed with walnut bark, after a day's hard 
work and a supper of corn cake, unknown and piti- 
fully poor. He had split rails which he exchanged 
for the cloth for a pair of trousers at the rate of four 
hundred rails per yard. He became the great ruler 
of a great nation in a great crisis. By a stroke of 
his pen slavery was abolished and the black man made 
free. Under his leadership the nations saw human 
freedom established as a world principle. Under his 
leadership, the nation, founded by Washington was 
preserved, and the Union — one and inseparable — 
cemented forever. His name is today one of the most 
illustrious that shine on the pages of history. 

James A. Garfield, who barefoot drove the mules 
along the tow path of the Ohio canal, born in the one- 
room log house in Orange township, was also poor. 



The lessons of his life are a rich national legacy. From 
the tow-path to the White House — what an object les- 
son for all who would aspire. The pathos of his death 
and the greatness of his life shine forth in undimin- 
ished luster as the years advance. 

William McKinley, like Lincoln and Garfield, rose 
from obscurity and humble surroundings to preside 
over the destinies of a great nation. Like Lincoln he 
was an epoch making president, like Garfield, he was 
a soldier, a statesman and an orator. His charm of 
manner and consideration for others made him popu- 
lar with all he met. His enemies were only those that 
were such from envy or malice. He had few. He never 
hesitated to uphold the principles that he believed 
were for the upbuilding of the Nation. When, tem- 
porarily, those principles were repudiated by the peo- 
ple, he calmly, prophetically as time demonstrated, 
held that they would ultimately triumph, and they 
did. When war came his wisdom and true diplomacy 
were manifest. He was a true leader and a wise coun- 
selor. 

Of the three martyred presidents, McKinley was 
particularly identified with the history of the Tippe- 
canoe Club. The Club has never failed to observe 
appropriately the anniversary of his birth — McKinley 
Day. 

So rich and varied have been the addresses on 
these occasions^ that their publication in book form, 
together with other notable memorial addresses on 
McKinley, has been undertaken. 

W. R. COATES, 

President, Tippecanoe Club. 



WILLIAM McKINLEY 

+ 4" + 

Born January 29, 1843 

Died September 14, 1901. 

+ + + 



McKINLEY DAY IN 1904 

Observance of McKinley Day, at first confined to 
regular meetings of the Tippecanoe Club, was cele- 
brated on January 29th, 1904, by a banquet at The 
Hollenden, 

The speakers on this occasion were Hon. Paul 
Rowland, Lieut. Governor Warren G. Harding, Wil- 
liam R. Hopkins, Hon. John J. Sullivan, Edward M. 
Baker, William E. Patterson, and Francis W. Cush- 
man, Congressman from the state of Washington. 

At this time, under the direction of Secretary 
I. E. Seiple, the beautiful and impressive service of 
saluting the flag, followed by a silent toast to the 
President of the United States, was first carried out. 

Toastmaster, Harvey D. Goulder, introduced the 
speakers and in introducing Mr. Cushman referred to 
him as "The Abraham Lincoln of the Northwest." 

It is a matter of regret that the address of Mr. 
Cushman is not obtainable. 

We insert however a couple of selections from 
the addresses taken from the files of The Cleveland 
Plain Dealer in its report of the banquet. 

Hon. Francis W. Cushman : 
"Patriotic, proud old Ohio, always ready to meet 
every crisis ! I bare my head to men like Garfield and 
McKinley. They drew from their environment and 
their glory is reflected in every patriotic son and 
daughter of the old State. 

The administration of President McKinley was 
not an accident, it was a conspicuous administration^ 

1 



2 

suited to the exigencies of the occasion and replete 
with far-sighted statesmanship. He was a man of 
great character and simple faith. 'God's will be done' 
was a characteristic utterance of the man. 

Let us say as he said: 'God's will be done'." 

Lieut. Governor Warren G. Harding: 
"One of the greatest of the names that mark our 

political annals is that of William McKinley. 

He unsheathed the sword in behalf of humanity 

.and in time of peace he turned the prow of the Ship 

of State into the Sea of Destiny and it led to a new 

era in American nationality." 



McKINLEY AS PRESIDENT 

Hon. Ralph D. Cole, 
Findlay, Ohio. 

This address was delivered on January 30th, 1905, 
at the annual banquet of The Tippecanoe Club, held 
in the Assembly Rooms of the Club, Masonic Temple. 

Among the speakers were Judge Robert W. 
Tayler, Governor Myron T. Herrick, Hon. John J. 
Sullivan and Hyman D. Davis. 

Toastmaster, James H. Hoyt, introduced the speaker. 



The history of civilization has produced no 
grander type of manhood than has risen from the 
Western Reserve of Ohio. You are renowned for il- 
lustrious names. You cherish with pardonable pride 
the memory of great governors, great senators and 
you are making a specialty of great presidents. To 
be born in the Western Reserve is to be a presidential 
possibility. 

The northw^estern section of Ohio is yet young. 
We can boast of no governors, senators and presi- 
dents, but we have all the elements of material wealth 
and possess a substantial and unsullied citizenship. 
Before the circle of another century is complete, we 
hope to stand by your side, kindred in greatness as 
well as in wealth. Our section is unfolding with the 
gentleness yet splendor of the sunrise, and there civ- 
ilization's brightest sunbeams are destined to fall. 

But for the present we yield the palm to the West- 
ern Reserve. When I contemplate a citizenship in- 
spired by the purest patriotism, character in its full 
orbed perfection and manhood in its majesty, I in- 
stinctively turn to that quadrant of the horizon, re- 

3 



4 
splendent withi the fame of Gariield and Giddings, 
Whittelsey and Wade, Rutherford B. Hayes and those 
two other illustrious sons of Ohio whose lives have 
been so intertwined that their memory shall live in- 
termingled and immortal in history, Marcus A. Hanna 
and William McKinley. 

William McKinley has many claims to the venera- 
tion of his countrymen, but his record as president 
has magnified his name among American Immortals. 

When he was nominated for the presidency, the 
gloom of Democracy overhung the nation. The multi- 
tudinous misfortunes of Democracy aggregated a stu- 
pendous disaster. The people appealed to the apostle 
of protection for relief. He answered: "Open the 
mills." Bryan said: "Open the mints." McKinley 
knew that wealth was not the creation of legis- 
lative decree, but the product of the gratuity of na- 
ture combined with the strength and skill of the 
muscle and mind of man. Democracy said: "More 
money will make more business." They confused 
cause and effect. Money don't make business. Busi-" 
ness makes money. The people ratified the principles 
of the Republican party and commissioned McKinley 
to redeem the pledges of the platform. A special ses- 
sion of congress was called. The gold standard was 
"irrevocably established ;" the Dingley bill was enacted 
into law ; industry revived as if by magic ; money 
sufficient for all the demands of trade flooded the chan- 
nels of commerce ; prosperity emptied the horn of 
plenty into the lap of poverty, and the nation awoke to 
a period of unparalleled progress. 

With what pride and gratification he must have 
contemplated the full fruition of his life's labors! 
"With what fervor of devotion he must have thanked 



5 

Almighty God for the extraordinary circumstances of 
his Hfe !" While holding the highest of earthly honors, 
eighty millions of his countrymen were reaping the 
rich rewards of his beneficent policy. To what other 
American has it been given to behold the great work 
of his congressional career crowned with effective ad- 
ministration, while he himself occupied the chair of 
chief executive. 

Prosperity re-established at home, he was called 
to the broader fields of foreign policy and was destined 
to achieve international renown. The ancient doc- 
trine of holding aloof from Old World strife, which 
comes down to us with the sanctity and weight of 
the wisdom of Washington, was to pass away with the 
sunset of the old century. New problems were to be 
solved; new relations to be established. We served 
notice of ejectment upon a European monarch from 
an American possession. It was done not for any 
selfish purpose, but in the name of and for hiimanitij. 

The story of Spanish oppression had aroused the 
patriotic spirit of the American people. The clamor 
for vengeance arose like the mutterings of distant 
thunder. It grew in volume and intensity until the 
whole nation trembled as on the eve of action. It 
swayed the press of the country; the pulpit swelled 
the chorus and even congress, like a rudderless ves- 
sel on an angry sea, was tempest tossed on the billows 
of passion. "Let us have war," the nation demanded. 
But we were not prepared for war and McKinley 
knew it. Deserted and denounced by friends, ma- 
ligned by enemies, motives misjudged by a misguided 
public, he stood almost alone and stemmed the tide 
until the army and navy were ready for the conflict. 
Then like a Hercules he let loose the thunderbolts of 



6 

war and in one hundred days Cuba was free and Spain 
possessionless in the Pacific. 

They charged, during the campaign, that he was 
without courage; that continued obeisance to the 
money power had sapped the strength from his moral 
nature. But the high tribunal of history, reflecting 
the common judgment of his countrymen, has reversed 
that opinion. The annals of the past present few more 
heroic figures than McKinley, heedless of public indig- 
nation, immovably centered in his lofty purposes, as 
he stayed the billows of battle between the destruction 
of the Maine and the declaration of war. 

The results of the war were twofold. It solidified 
the Republic. It re-cemented the bonds of the Ameri- 
can Union. It made us the greatest of world powers. 
It gave us a position of pre-eminence among the na- 
tions of the earth. A re-united nation — a world power 
— is the gift of William McKinley to the American 
people. 

Events subsequent to the Spanish-American war 
have made it evident that we are henceforth to per- 
form a leading part in the world's work. We can- 
not escape this responsibility. Destiny has so decreed 
and it is ours to obey. We are Americans. We face 
duty with fearless hearts and look to the future with 
full faith in our power to achieve. Our flag floats on 
every sea and i^ honored by every nation. The pres- 
tige gained abroad during that war enabled us to pre- 
vent the dismemberment of China. It secured the 
abrogation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty and gave the 
United States full and exclusive right to construct, 
own and operate an inter-oceanic canal. The old world 
now waits on the Republic to usher in the reign of 
universal peace. 



7 

McKinley's policy of expansion was denounced 
as "imperialism." Demagogues saw in him a sem- 
blance to Napoleon. In their impassioned moments 
they portrayed a coronation ceremony in which he 
crowned himself king. But his was not the despotic 
doctrine of imperialism, but the Democratic doctrine 
of expansion. Expansion has been the law of our na- 
tional development. He who denounces the policy of 
William McKinley challenges the patriotism of Thomas 
Jefferson. The inhabitants of our Pacific possessions 
must first share the blessings of Christian civilization 
and we can safely intrust their final disposition to the 
generation that shall witness this achievement. We 
gave Cuba grateful, generous, magnanimous welcome 
into the sisterhood of nations, and in due course of 
time, we shall see the isles of the seas which girdle 
the earth transformed into young Republics by the 
magical touch of American power. 

The destruction of sectional spirit is perhaps the 
greatest service he has rendered his country. He 
strove with all the strength of heart and mind to heal 
the wounds of war. His was the high honor of re- 
uniting North and South, of bridging the broad chasm 
of sectionalism. By his character and statesmanship, 
by the magnetism of his words, the genius of his intel- 
lect and the commanding power of his impressive per- 
sonality, he won the hearts of the South and she loved 
him as truly as if he had sprung from her loins. 

Mark but a few years ago his majestic entrance 
into Dixie, surpassing in real magnificence Caesar's tri- 
umphant return to the city of Rome. That wealth of 
welcome accorded him is unmistakable evidence of un- 
feigned devotion to the federal government. As if to 
honor a home-coming, conquering hero, battle scarred 



veterans of the Confederacy rose up to greet his com- 
ing. From the Potomac to the Southern Sea, his course 
was thronged with millions of his admiring country- 
men, envious all to do him honor, none to do him harm. 
And when that fiend incarnate, inspired with anarch- 
istic hate laid him low, execrations dire against the 
abominable deed and sorrow's sweet incense, like 
Gilead's balm, to comfort the bereaved ascended alike 
from all sections. 

Let not tliis impressive lesson of his sublime life 
be lost upon the generations that shall follow. The 
intense bitterness of sectional animosity is gone, and 
forever. Patriotism, as broad as the limits of the Re- 
public, as holy as the memory of our martyrs, inspires 
the American people. We have lived to see the destruc- 
tion of sectional spirit and the star spangled banner 
the theme of universal song ; to hear the welcome tid- 
ings of the South Lands redeeming loyalty mingling 
in harmony with Webster's chorus of "Liberty and 
Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." 

The superficial cannot survive the centuries. The 
seal of time's approval seldom stamps the unworthy. 
False standards may exalt the fictitious for a time, but 
the memory of mankind was made for merit. Sincere 
the life, secure the fame of this noble man in the af- 
fections of his countrymen. When the fleeting events 
of the present century dwindle to a mere speck be- 
hind the hilltops of time, renowned with Washington 
and Lincoln shall tower the majestic form of William 
McKinley. 




■'■'JCWJ/**' 



Coiiitesv of Kdw. !•;. Wilson, 
Author— '-It i^ Coil's W av." 



^[cKIXLEY'S BIRTHPLACK. 
xir.KS, OHIO. 



^ 



PRESIDENT McKINLEY 

Caspar Wistar Hiatt, D. D. 

This address was delivered at the McKinley Day 
Banquet of the Tippecanoe Club held in the Assembly 
Rooms of the Club, January 29th, 1906. 

Attorney General Wade Ellis, J. Adam Bede, Con- 
gressman from Minnesota, Carmi A. Thompson and 
W. S. FitzGerald were among the speakers. 

Toastmaster, Homer H. McKeehan, introduced the 
speaker. 



I bring to you a name which in the closing days of 
the nineteenth century at once epitomized and glorified 
the history of our land. It is a name suggestive of 
the plume and plaid, the gentleness and valor of the 
Highland Clans. A name tinted with the heather and 
ribbed with the strength of Scotland's hills. A name 
touched with the solemn piety of John Knox, the ten- 
der melodies of Burns, the pictured chivalry of Walter 
Scott. A name resounding with the clash of claymore 
and the strains of pibroch and the patriotic shouts of 
Robert Bruce and Rhoderic Dhu. A name transplant- 
ing all the sterling virtues of the Gaelic thistle into the 
hospitable climate of the Stars and Stripes. A name 
like that of Washington and Lincoln, a chronicle of a 
crucial time when the nation met a crisis and the crisis 
raised a man, efficient, sufficient for its mastery — 
McKINLEY. 

Passing by the biographic chapter, so full of in- 
terest, that story of development which all the world 
has learned by heart, we look upon him standing at 
the top of his career, the man at Washington holding 
the fate of the republic in his hands. 

11 



\ 



12 

We are not particular what we call ourselves to- 
night, Buckeyes, Republicans, Americans, Anglo- 
Saxons, citizens of the world at large, or even Demo- 
crats, we all agree to his abundant eulogy. Ohio may 
cherish his cradle and his sepulchre as shrines where 
each new generation may become inspired. The Re- 
publican party may inscribe his record on its scroll of 
deathless history, as the consistent and courageous 
exposition of its principles, but in the larger area of all 
America and all Christendom, one thought eclipses 
every other — the memory of McKinley, the President 
— who by the greatness of his personality preserved 
for all mankind, a faith in the enduring fortunes of 
democratic liberty. And this I think will be his fame 

in history. 

We honor him for what he thought and what he 

was and what he did. 

And first we remember what he thought. He 
was a man without political credulity but not without 
a creed. His creed was not a slated set of principles 
prepared by other hands, but truths which he had wit- 
nessed in the progress of events and tested for himself 
upon the fields of life. Life was for him a school, 
shifting continually but never breaking up. And so 
it came to pass that the boy of the Western Reserve, 
the private in the ranks of blue, the lawyer, the 
legislator, the governor, the president, was always 
learning things which were worthy of a resolute be- 
lief. 

He believed that democracy is a larger word 
than democrat, republic a larger word than republican, 
that the People is always greater than the party, what- 
ever be its name. 

He believed that the American people held their 
financial honor to be as sacred as their flag. 



13 

He believed that the government should honor all 
its obligations, and keep out of debt, paying as it goes. 

He believed in the protection of industry as the 
surest prop of the public treasury, and the guarantee 
of smiling enterprise across the land. 

He believed in using revenues for expenses and to 
liquidate the public debt and also to provide an ample 
pension for the veteran defenders of our flag. 

He believed in merit as the unalterable requisite 
of civil service, and that this should be acknowledged 
whatever party happened to control affairs. 

He believed that equality of rights should be main- 
tained and our laws be always and everywhere re- 
spected and obeyed. 

He believed that trusts which arbitrarily ruled the 
world of trade, should be regarded as oppressors and 
should be visited with all the rigor of the legislative 
arm. 

He believed that there should be no immunity for 
the violator of the law, be it individual, corporation 
or community. 

He believed in the protection of every citizen, 
from the humblest black man in the South to the most 
distant missionary threatened by the Boxer mobs of 
inland China. 

He believed that a short day is better than a short 
dollar for the workingman. 

He believed that the aim of the government should 
be internal happiness and the relation of external 
friendship with every nation in the world. 

He believed that war should never be entered upon 
until every agency of peace had failed. 

He believed that war for territory is wholly inex- 
cusable, but that a war for humanity is ever honor- 



14 

able, and that when territory comes as the result of 
such a war, this brings responsibility — a trust from 
which the man of duty will not shrink. 

He believed that the United States has never 
struck a blow except for civilization, and has never 
struck its colors. 

He believed that the foundation of the republic 
is liberty; its superstructure peace. 

He believed that patriotism should be faithful as 
well as fervent ; statesmanship wise as well as fearless. 

He believed that duty is not always easy, but al- 
ways sure and safe and honorable, and that with na- 
tions, as with individuals, "Duty determines destiny." 

And because he believed these things and a hun- 
dred more I cannot mention here, he believed in the 
organization which had fixed these principles upon its 
shield, with the pen of Lincoln and the sword of Grant. 
He believed in the Republican party. 

And tonight we think of what he was. 

I do not speak of that personal character so deep 
and pure, but of those qualities revealed in public life. 
And earliest among these qualities was his sanity. I 
see him reasoning with patience where most men would 
have turned away with passion or contempt. I see his \ 
modesty, permitting others to think that they were 
leading him, when, like a shepherd, he was in reality 
guiding on the flock with rod and staff. I see his ever 
present dignity. He never degenerated into senseless 
declamation. His talk was never cheap. His speeches 
are the best of all that presidents have uttered, except- 
ing only those of Lincoln to which they bore a strong 
resemblance, with which they were in closest sympathy. 
I see his fairness to the opposition, despite expostula- 
tion on the part of friends. I see his consideration for 



15 

his yoke-fellows in the service of the state. McKinley ^ 
believed in Congress. These men were representative. 
They were the voice and conscience and judgment of 
the American people. They were not chosen idly but 
because of their ability and loyalty. They came from 
the freedom-loving commonalty. They were the in- 
telligence and heart and strength of patriotism. The 
choice of the people he did not despise. 

He had stood for thirteen years among them and 
kneM' that as an average they were unusual men. And 
so he did not treat his Congresses as children or as 
knaves. His predecessor had vetoed 343 bills, he vetoed 
two. He had prerogative and he also had good sense. 
He might have exercised prerogative and taken Con- 
gress by the ears. He preferred to exercise good sense, 
and took it by the button-hole. And this man of geni- 
ality and simplicity and considerateness and sympathy, 
won his way where others would have failed. Without 
the surrender of a single flag of principle, he gained 
his object and received the approbation of the world. 

And tonight we think of what he did. 

In the darkest hour of national depression he 
wrought the miracle of material prosperity. When 
shall we forget the awful days from 1893 to 1897? 
The crash of banks, the toppling of fortunes, the col- 
lapse of trade and industry, filled the heavens with 
choking dust and covered the earth with wreckage and 
debris. The face of the sun was hidden by the rising 
cloud. The streets were emptied of their traffic and 
grass was growing in' the tracks of wheels. Panic 
stretched a ghastly hand across the fields of promise 
and discontent sat brooding on every doorstep in the 
land. Collaterals were of no avail in getting loans. 
The manufacturer with his counting room full of ur- 



16 

gent orders, could find no money to lubricate the axles 
of his enterprise. Every curbstone was the resort of 
idle groups trumpeting financial heresy. Armies of 
ragged men were marching from San Francisco to 
Washington while self-respecting indolence sat on the 
fences and cheered them on. The blackest year of all 
was 1896. New York exchange was at a discount, sel- 
ling at eight-five. The national treasury was running 
low, revenue had fallen behind expenses 140 millions 
in three years. The balance of trade was all against 
us, and ruin was knocking at our outer gates. Whis- 
pers of anarchy were heard on every side and the fears 
of all good people swung between the thought of revo- 
lution on the one hand and dictatorship on the other. 
Then came the election of 1896. Into this scene of un- 
precedented confusion there stepped the figure of a 
man — calm, unmoved, and undismayed. He grasped 
at once the situation, and like the architect among the 
fallen pillars of a stately palace, began the work of 
restoration. He called together the Congress in an 
extraordinary session and bade them put a stop to the 
leak in the National Treasury. He bade them make 
provision for protection of every honest industry. He 
demanded that the dollar of America should be of such 
a quality that its ring would be acknowledged genuine 
in every market of the world. He exhibited to all the 
nations a leadership of business sagacity. And sud- 
denly there shot across the heavens a phrase we had not 
heard for years, "Commercial Confidence." Mills and 
factories again lit up their fires, the trains began to 
rumble across the continent, the ships to splash across 
the seas, the army of Coxey went marching to the doors 
of shops and mines and equipped themselves with the 
bloodless weaponry of productive and remunerative 



17 

toil. Speedily revenues began to fill the treasury, and 
the balance of trade swung round to a half billion of 
dollars a year on the credit side of ledger. Capital re- 
opened its strong-box and labor went whistling to its 
work with well-filled dinner pail. This was the first 
achievement of McKinley. He touched the financial 
cemetery and the graves were opened and national 
prosperity arose from the dead. 

The second achievement which he wrought was the 
redemption of the flag. In 1896 the world was looking 
on the Stars and Stripes with a measure of derision and 
contempt. In 1898 there was not a potentate upon the 
globe but regarded it with awe. The world had said 
the militarism of the United States had declined under 
the burden of its civilization. But now there came a 
disenchantment. The business man from Canton 
proved to be a soldier from the camps of war and never 
since Lincoln was there a severer test of captaincy than 
was given the President by the coming of the Spanish 
conflict. It found us unprepared. The explosion of 
February made everybody eager for engagement. But 
one man tarried. It was the President. "We must 
wait," he said. "Wait until we discover whether we 
have a right to go to war. Wait until men shall per- 
ceive the justice of our movements. Wait until we are 
able, moreover, to equip the volunteers we marshal to 
the front." And not until every step of diplomacy 
and equity had been taken, not until all was ready, was 
the signal given. Then suddenly appeared in the door- 
way of the White House the Major! A sword flashed 
in the air, and all America stood up with the tri-color 
of our liberty streaming in the wind. And the world 
saw a pillar of cloud mingled with fire, rising from the 
decks of battleships at Manila and Santiago and the 



18 

fields of El Caney and San Juan. And when the smoke 
had cleared away there was not a scoffer left upon the 
globe, for, on the western horizon, placing with new 
resplendency our banner among the auroras and the 
pleiades, GOD'S eternal stars and stripes, stood Mc- 
Kinley. The potential militarism of the United States 
was demonstrated. The ensign of the republic found a 
home in both the hemispheres, a flag on which the sun 
no longer sets. 

The third achievement which McKinley wrought 
was solidarity. He not only made friendship with our 
little sister Mexico, not only clasped the hand of our 
big brother in the new confederation of the Anglo- 
Saxon world, but he also made us strong within our 
borders. He closed the chasm between the North and 
the South. We see him in 1898, standing on Dexter 
street in Montgomery, phrasing the messages of recon- 
ciliation. He stood where Jefferson Davis had stood 
in the sixties to salute and swear allegiance to the Con- 
federate flag. And where again in 1886, Davis with 
his companions of the lost cause, reaffirmed their old- 
time principles. Right there stood McKinley in 1898. 
It was a trying moment. The ex-soldier of the Union, 
the President of the United States, elected by Republi- 
cans, was now to speak to the bitterest contingent relics 
of the old regime. I hear him and he seems to be a 
prophet inspired of Heaven. With unflinching man- 
hood he speaks of the old and new. But with such 
evident sincerity he paints the glorious reconciliation 
by the mingling of the Northern and the Southern 
blood in the war with Spain, so glowingly did he re- 
call the equal valor of the sons of Puritans and Cava- 
liers, that right there where secession had its birth, the 
new era of a stronger nationalism than we had ever 
known was ushered in. 



19 
On this natal day we cannot forget that other day 
which tells of saddest tragedy. The soil yet trembles 
under the tread of the multitude that moved with 
bowed head in the funeral cortege of our beloved Chief. 
Our hearts still join the sad rhythm of that "Nearer, 
my God, to Thee," which had been the song of his life, 
and was now become the requiem of a people, as he 
passed out of view into the unbroken stillness, the un- 
rifted shadows of the mystic vale. True, the poig- 
nancy of our grief is gone. We do not dare keep fresh 
the bleeding wound left by fell assassin's stroke. This 
mighty Republic carries too much of present day re- 
sponsibility to permit its tarrying in fruitless weep- 
ing, even for its sacred, cherished dead. We have asked 
the sky, full of shining stars, to arch in sweet protec- 
tive pavilion above our martyred President. We have 
taught the grasses and the flowers of summer to weave 
themselves in tapestries and rugs and coverlets of love- 
liness beyond compare, and even the driving snows of 
winter to wind themselves in shrouds of spotless white- 
ness round about him where he lies pillowed on the 
breast of Motherland. But while we tenderly venerate 
his ashes, we do more with his glorious memory. We 
call for the spirit of McKinley, the wise, the humane, 
the courageous, the modest, the patriotic spirit of Mc- 
Kinley to resurrect itself among us in the leaders, the 
policies, the achievements which are today and are to 
be tomorrow. We submitted to the fearful translation 
of that noble form, master of assemblies, pride of 
public eye, idol of domestic circle, but we cannot bear 
the thought of a bereavement so complete as the de- 
parture of his moral splendor from our commonwealth. 
And this is the greatest eulogy that can be paid to any 
mortal man : that his thought and integrity and motive 



20 



cannot be spared from the plenty of the common good. 
And so tonight, I pledge to you, McKINLEY — the glory 
of his party, and the pride of all mankind, prophet and 
priest, apostle and evangelist, sage and seer, redeemer 
and reformer, soldier and martyr of the commonwealth. 



MEMORIES OF McKINLEY 

Governor Andrew L. Harris. 

This address was delivered at a banquet held at The 
Hollenden, January 29th, 1907. 

United States Senator William Alden Smith, of 
Michigan, Freeman T. Eagleson, Speaker Pro Tern 
Ohio House of Representatives, and Judge Frederick 
A. Henry were among the speakers. 

Ex-Governor Myron T. Herrick, as Toastmaster, in- 
troduced the speaker. 



"To live in hearts ire leave behind 
is not to die." — Campbell. 

In referring to "Memories of McKinley," I am 
reminded that Governor Herrick, the distinguished 
Toastmaster of the evening, was no doubt as close to 
the martyred President as any man who still survives 
him. Governor Herrick was not only a member of 
his Staff and a delegate at State and National Con- 
ventions at which McKinley was nominated, but he was 
also his adviser and helper in private business and 
personal matters, as well as in party and public affairs. 
Herrick's home was McKinley's home in Cleveland, and 
McKinley's home was Herrick's home in Canton. Later, 
Herrick was also at home with McKinley in Columbus 
and Washington. 

Ten years ago tonight, McKinley was celebrating 
his birthday at his old home. It was his last birthday 
in Canton. He had been a private citizen the previous 
year and was at that time the President-elect of the 
United States. 

During the five weeks intervening between that 
birthday and his inauguration, he was constantly in 

'11 



22 
conferences with those seeking to become Cabinet Min- 
isters, Ambassadors or otherwise listed in the Blue 
Book. There was then to be a change from a Demo- 
cratic to a Republican National Administration. That 
was perhaps the most strenuous birthday of his life. 
The most difficult questions of party and public policy 
were, even then, pressing hard upon him. He had often 
gone from Canton to Washington during the previous 
20 years, but he had never made that trip under such 
circumstances as confronted him on that birthday. 

What a career was his in public life for a quarter 
of a century? From Congressman to Governor, and 
from Governor to President, he passed up with such 
brief intervals that he was constantly before the people, 
from the Hayes campaign of 1876 until his death in 
1901. 

As you will tonight have an able address on this 
good and great man and brave soldier from one of our 
foremost scholars and orators, I will speak only of 
personal recollections of him as a Christian, husband 
and companion. Having served as Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor, when McKinley was for four years Governor, it 
was my fortune to have toured the state with him in 
different campaigns, and to have been personally as- 
sociated with him after his first gubernatorial cam- 
paign. 

I had known of William McKinley for many years, 
but met him for the first time at the Republican State 
Convention, in Columbus, in 1891, when he was nomin- 
ated for Governor, and I was made his running-mate. 
He invited me to his room, in the evening after we were 
nominated, for a consultation, and to get better ac- 
quainted. He spoke particularly of the coming cam- 
paign and of its management. He expressed the hope 



23 

that it would be a contest of principles and not of 
money, a struggle of reason and not of abuse, and that 
so far as he was concerned, it should be manly and fair, 
that he never would consent to compromise himself in 
the least to get votes; and he did not. No campaign 
was ever waged, no battle was ever fought with more 
honor, and no political victory was a greater moral 
triumph. 

The great contest for United States Senator be- 
tween Senator Sherman and Governor Foraker was 
waging at the time of McKinley's first election as Gov- 
ernor. Both were his friends. He wished to keep out 
of that struggle. His sympathy was with Sherman — 
not for personal reasons alone. Foraker had placed 
him in nomination before the Convention in that same 
year, in one of his most brilliant and eloquent speeches. 
Foraker had a good subject and he carried the con- 
vention by storm. He left a sick bed to do this for his 
friend. McKinley was grateful to him, indeed, and 
could not forget him. The struggle went on. Sherman 
was in danger of defeat. McKinley felt that the finan- 
cial condition of the country demanded Sherman's 
retention in the Senate. Duty was stronger than 
friendship. Sherman was elected. Many members of 
the Legislature were so sorely disappointed that they 
criticised the Governor. He took them into his con- 
fidence and made them his friends, and soon had their 
undivided support. They may have remained as 
Foraker men or as Sherman men, but they were all 
McKinley men. 

It was my good fortune to travel with him during 
a part of the campaign of 1891, and during the entire 
campaign of 1893. For many weeks I was his com- 
panion, traveling in the same car, occupying the same 



24 

platform, dining at the same table, and frequently 
sleeping in the same room. I learned to know him and 
to love him. Whether conversing with a friend or 
addressing a great audience, he showed his magnetic 
influence over his fellow man. While his eloquence was 
not brilliant, it was convincing, and his hearers always 
gave him the credit of being honest and sincere. 

The people of the State loved him more in 1893 
than in 1891, because they knew him better, and to 
know him was to admire him. He had so completely 
won the admiration of the people during his first term 
as Governor, that no other speaker was in great de- 
mand during his second campaign. His meetings were 
largely attended everywhere. His hearers listened 
with great attention and drank in every word that fell 
from his lips. The most casual observer could see 
that he was the favorite son of the State. 

I pitied the man who was called upon to speak 
either before or after McKinley that year. If he spoke 
before him, the audience seemed anxious for something 
or somebody else. If he spoke after him, there did not 
seem to be anything more wanted. My experience 
was the experience of other speakers more gifted in 
speech than myself. The late lamented General Alger 
was with us, by invitation, one w^eek. His experience 
was like mine. We frequently talked about the wonder- 
ful hold McKinley had on the people, and neither of us 
had any choice as to which one would precede or follow 
McKinley, as the conditions were about the same. 

In campaigning it was not always possible for us 
to get separate rooms. McKinley preferred a room 
with two beds, so that we could talk over matters 
before retiring, and while dressing in the morning. He 
utilized all of his time. He shaved himself every morn- 



25 
ing, using one hand for one side of his face and the 
other hand with which to shave the other side, mean- 
time walking about the room and talking as if he was 
not engaged in what, to most people, is a very delicate 
job. He frequently glanced over the newspapers while 
shaving himself and used no mirror. He never laid 
awake thinking about business, politics or anything. 
He was an excellent sleeper, and fell asleep at once on 
retiring. He could always utilize time on the trains 
in rest and could go to sleep at will. In a very 
unostentatious manner, he always had his private de- 
votions, and knelt at his bedside the last thing at night 
and the first thing in the morning. 

Whenever McKinley was away he always tele- 
graphed his wife — twice a day — morning and evening. 
When I was out in the campaigns with him he was 
looking for telegrams every day from her. 

It is known to all who were about the Capitol 
when McKinley was Governor, that business in his 
private oflice stopped for a moment at 3:00 p. m., no 
matter who was with him nor what was pending. At 
that hour he invariably went to the window to wave 
his handkerchief. Mrs. McKinley would then be up 
from her repose and at her window in the Neil House, 
just across the street, waving her handkerchief at him. 
When they were living at the Neil House, he never 
left that hotel for his office without stopping at the 
entrance to the Capitol grounds and doffing his hat to 
Mrs. McKinley, who would be at her window, and 
she remained there until he passed into the Capitol 
building. On that spot at the entrance to the Ohio 
Capitol grounds, where he was wont to stop and look 
back at Mrs. McKinley's window, now stands the 



26 

McKinley monument that was dedicated last September 
in the presence of the largest crowd ever assembled in 
Columbus. 

When McKinley was inaugurated as Governor in 
1894, his wife was unable to be out of doors and the 
ceremonies were held from the west terrace of the State 
House, at his request, so that Mrs. McKinley could 
witness the exercises from her window in the Neil 
House. 

McKinley was not only kind, but also very appre- 
ciative. He had the courtesy of the old school, and 
never neglected an opportunity to express his thanks 
for the smallest favors, or for any work that was well 
done. He was even tempered — almost perfection in 
that respect. If he was annoyed by applicants or by 
complaints, it made no difference in the even tenor of 
his way. He was always agreeable. 

While McKinley was always dignified, yet he had 
a delightful sense of humor and with his intimates 
was very fond of a joke, but his humor was always 
scruplously clean and his anecdotes did not need ex- 
purgation for parlor use. 

McKinley took the very best care of himself. An 
almost invariable habit was to get out a portion of 
each day for a good walk. He was a believer in fresh 
air and moderate exercise. In this connection it may 
be interesting to recall the fact that he was an excel- 
lent horseman, retaining all his proficiency attained in 
the war. On several occasions he had the opportunity 
to show his Staff how to ride a horse, especially on one 
trip at Canton, when he started out with the full 
military staff in uniform, mounted, and returned, after 
a dash of five miles, with one lone attendant — all the 
others dropping by the wayside or being distanced. He 



27 

had an excellent constitution to start with and in his 
youth must have been a powerful man physically. 

The way that McKinley had reduced the endurance 
of public life to a science was illustrated in his hand- 
shaking. He never allowed anyone to get the "drop" 
on him. He always got hold of the other fellow's hand 
first, and with such a high reach as to prevent gripping 
or squeezing. I probably noticed this custom the more 
for the reason that I have a lame right arm and always 
suffer for days afterward from the effect of receptions. 
I regret that I w^as never able to catch on to the 
McKinley grip. 

I have humbly recalled some little things about 
McKinley. You will hear of the big ones later on this 
evening. But even these little traits of character show 
him to have been a faithful Christian, a devoted hus- 
band, a popular campaigner, a charming companion, 
a man of the people and for the people and their 
sincere public servant. He bore the olive branch to 
factions in the North, as well as to his brethren in the 
South. He believed in what he himself stood for, and 
he never advocated any course for his own advancement 
to the detriment of his country or his state or his 
party. 

I will close these random recollections with a pen 
picture of the man by one who was intimately associ- 
ated with him, both in his private and public life: 

"No ruler of earth was ever more beloved than he. 
No head of government ever knew his people so well. 
No people ever confided in their chief executive so 
much. He believed that the voice of the people is the 
voice of God, and his ear was ever ready to receive the 
word. He knew the fallibility of kings, and believed 
that the people can do no wrong. He never sought to 



28 

be a leader, but was content to follow the pillar of 
cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Yet he 
had all the qualifications of a great general. He could 
plan a campaign with consummate skill and execute it 
with rare power. He did not hesitate to use the abil- 
ities of others because, like Lincoln, he feared no man. 
He was great enough to be beyond the suggestion of 
jealousy and good enough to be beyond the possibility 
of hating, 

"William McKinley was in every way the ideal 
American. He was a composite of the highest types of 
manhood. He was the model gentleman. He lived but 
one life. He was always the same. Something of the 
tender devotion to his wife seemed to tint and mellow 
his public life. Those who knew him in his home life 
in Canton, in his career in Congress and as Governor 
of Ohio knew every characteristic of the martyred 
President. 

'The biographer of William McKinley will not be 
able to point out any one quality that made him what 
he was. He had a perfect combination of all. He had 
poise; he was eminently sane and always calm. He 
knew neither the excess of joy nor the depths of sor- 
row, because, whatever the occasion, he believed, 'It 
is God's way; His will be done.' His spiritual side was 
particularly beautiful. He accepted the doctrines of 
the church without reservation, and his faith was as 
nearly sublime as man may have. He had a singularly 
sweet and powerful voice and was fond of joining in 
congregational singing, and oftentimes, in the privacy 
of his own office, he would hum the inspired strains of 
some good old hymn, and if, perchance, a stranger 
heard, he stood with uncovered head until the melody 
died away. 



21) 

"He died, as he lived, a Christian gentleman — 
with the love of all who knew him, with the respect of 
all mankind. The world is better because he lived in 
it, and generations to come will be benefited by his 
noble example. As long as men read, the name of 
William McKinley will adorn one of the brightest 
pages of history, and his splendid career will be the 
polar star of worthy emulation." 




Ct)urtesy, The Courtney Studit; 

THE McKINLEY HOME, 

CANTON, OHIO. 



WILLIAM McKINLEY, THE REPRESENTATIVE 
AMERICAN 

Prof. Mattoon M. Curtis. 

This address was delivered at the banquet at The 
Hollenden, January 29th, 1907, following the address 
of Governor Harris on Memories of McKinley. 

The speaker was introduced by Ex-Governor Myron 
T. Herrick, Toastmaster. 

•fr + + 

'7/ there is a lesson in my life or death, let 

it be taught to those ivho still live and have 

the destiny of their country in their keeping." 

— William McKinley. 

1. We are here to do homage to one whose char- 
acter confers dignity upon us all. When we consider 
his rise to the position of Chief Executive of the Na- 
tion ; when we consider his pure life and his splendid 
services ; when we consider the dying hero and his at- 
titude toward his countrymen, there can be no doubt 
that William McKinley was one of our great represent- 
ative Americans, and that his star shall shine in the 
future, as it does today, among the brightest in the 
galaxy of American statesmen. 

In those last tragic hours when this great life was 
ebbing away into history, when this mortal was slowly 
putting on immortality, it gave utterance to these sig- 
nificant words: "If there is a lesson in-my life or death, 
let it be taught to those who still live and have the 
destiny of their country in their keeping." 

My theme tonight is the message of William Mc- 
Kinley "to those who still live and have the destiny of 
their country in their keeping." We shall dwell upon 
those points wherein he rises above the details of 

83 



34 

practical politics and becomes the expression of the 
fundamental principles that underlie our institutions. 
It is not the message of the soldier, nor of the congress- 
man, nor of the governor, nor of the president, but of 
the man, the statesman, the representative American ; 
the message of the great commoner who represented 
the people, the laws of the people, and the ideals of 
the people. 

2. McKinley was the true exponent of popular 
government, not only because he believed that the seat 
of political sovereignty is and ought to be in the peo- 
ple, but because he knew, loved and honored the people 
as fellow citizens. No one more than he believed in 
the integrity and patriotism of the people or in the 
soundness of public opinion. No one more than he 
held the respect and confidence of all sections and all 
parties. This mutual sympathy and trustfulness gave 
him a prestige as a national leader such as few, if 
any of our great men have ever attained. The sudden 
revival of confidence that immediately followed his 
election in 1896; his great popular victory in 1900; 
the overwhelming grief that fell upon the nation when 
his light went out, these are the tributes that have 
already been paid by the American people to the 
American representative. He was criticized by shal- 
low politicians as "keeping his ear to the ground" and 
giving too much deference to public opinion. This 
intended reproach was a eulogy of the man, for it 
declares at once his high estimation of the people and 
his adequate comprehension of the nature of our gov- 
ernment. Even though there were no monument to 
McKinley in all our land, even though the date of his 
birth and the site of his grave should be forgotten; 
even though great organizations should fail to meet 



35 
to do him honor — his history would remain insepar- 
ably woven into the history of his country, and the 
fragrance of his memory would live in the hearts of 
his people. Such a life as this is an everlasting pro- 
test against a score of heresies that spring up in little 
minds regarding the nature of our government and of 
our people. Are our people to be trusted? Are our 
institutions securely grounded? Is ingratitude the 
crime of republics? To these questions McKinley in 
the presidential chair and in the hearts of his country- 
men is a sufficient answer. 

McKinley's belief in democracy was supported by 
a profound grasp of the American situation and by 
what the future of our country demands. His de- 
mocracy was complete. Voltaire once said that Eng- 
lish society was like English ale — the bottom dregs, 
the top froth, the middle excellent. American society 
is of the excellent middle class — froth and dregs are 
negligible factors. To preserve this status is the giant 
problem that confronts us. It can not be put in too 
glaring colors. Spain is a two class nation, froth and 
dregs. Russia is a two class nation, froth and dregs. 
They can arise only through the formation of an excel- 
lent middle. No nation is stronger than its middle 
class. McKinley saw this, and we should all realize it. 
He did all in his power to preserve and augment the 
great body of industrious and frugal citizenship. Any- 
thing that tends to decrease the number and power 
of our great middle class is a direct attack not only 
against our government but against the health and 
prosperity of society. When we see the idle rich in- 
creasing at the top and the proletariat increasing at 
the bottom it is high time to look after the interests 
of our institutions. There was a time in our history 



36 

when the larger part of our country had a two-class 
society — masters and slaves.' What was the social 
result? Not only the belief that human rights and 
liberties were limited to white men, but the formation 
of a great class of poor whites whose position became 
less enviable than that of the slave. Not only was the 
South deteriorating in moral and economic aspects but 
she was demanding that this two-class society should 
be extended to all new territory and states below an 
imaginary line and that our nation ' should thus be 
split in twain from east to west. Hence the inevitable 
conflict came. What for? Not primarily for the free- 
dom of the slave ; not for the amelioration of the poor 
whites, but for the preservation of the Union ; for the 
preservation of a one-class society before the law. 
The war of 1861 carried on the work of the Constitu- 
tional Convention of 1787, and it remains for us to 
preserve and protect the labors of the fathers. 

As McKinley grasped this great social truth in 
democracy, so he grasped its correspondingly great 
political truth, that political issues should divide the 
people vertically, not horizontally, that rich and poor, 
high and low should be found in both political parties. 
If there is anything un-American, if there is anything 
intrinsically pernicious in a democracy it is the effort 
to make horizontal political issues, to create classes 
and set class Against class. This also calls for wise 
leadership — calls for men of the McKinley type who 
will preserve America as a one-class nation, excellent, 
industrious, prosperous from bottom to top, without 
froth or dregs. 

Once more, he is the representative of wise de- 
mocracy in keeping sectional politics out of national 
issues. No local interest ever blinded McKinley to the 



37 
interests of the nation as a whole. To him there was 
neither north nor south, nor east nor west. As a 
statesman he stood for all the people, all the time, and 
everywhere. No man did more to smooth all sectional 
differences and this he did without prejudicing a single 
principle. True he was the great protectionist. But 
the principle of protection can not be impeached by 
referring it to greed or selfishness or sectional inter- 
ests. He believed in protection as a principle not of 
loot but of justice, not for a part, but for all the peo- 
ple — a duty which every man owes to himself and 
which every government owes to its people. 

3. McKinley was the representative of the peo- 
ple's law. I do not mean merely the current law made 
by state and federal legislation but the actual crystalli- 
zations of public opinion that disclose public rights 
and duties for all the people. 

There is a vast difference between the statesman 
and the politician. The politician pins his faith to the 
working of the game or the machine. The statesman 
grounds his faith in the working of principles in the 
minds and hearts of living freemen. The vision of the 
politician is the vision of the mole; the vision of the 
statesman is the vision of the eagle. McKinley's view 
of law, lawmaking and law administration was that 
of the statesman. The moral and legal were very 
profound elements in his character. They are in- 
grained in the stock from which he sprung — they are 
in the religion and law of his fathers. He had learned 
obedience to law in his ancestry and his life. He had 
learned it as a child in his home at Niles and Poland. 
At seventeen years of age he heard his country's call 
and out of that devotion to duty which characterized 
his whole life he obeyed that summons and went forth 



38 

as a private to stand by the old flag to the finish. He 
had learned it as a soldier in the field; he exhibited it 
as a representative in Congress. He showed that he 
had learned reverence and obedience to law as the 
governor of this state and as the chief executive of 
the nation and in that last sad hour he showed that 
he could face the last orders with the same equanimity 
as he faced the enemy at Antietam and in the valley 
of the Shenandoah. "It is God's way. His will not 
ours be done," The spirit of law had so fully entered 
his soul; the spirit of justice so fully possessed him 
that the peerless Secretary of State, John Hay, truth- 
fully said of him that he "Never had occasion to re- 
view a judgment or reverse a decision." Whenever 
justice uttered her voice he listened and recognized 
law. Whether it thundered from Sinai to command us 
by fear or distilled like the dew from the Mount of 
Olives to command us by love ; whether it blazed from 
the Declaration which patriotism flung into the face 
of tyranny or marches in the Constitution with the 
solemn logic of constructing a new government, wher- 
ever it appeared there stood McKinley to welcome it 
and pledge his unqualified support. 

But all law is not the law of the people, it ought 
to be but it is not always so. Not all legislation is 
solely in the interests of all — nor in the interests of 
the majority. Before the supreme court of public 
conscience some of our laws are lawless — unjust, in- 
iquitous. So far as this is true we are teaching our 
people the first principles of resistance to arbitrary 
power; so far as such laws are possible we are giving 
lawmaking into the hands of anarchy. If law is to 
be respected it must be respectable. If law is to be a 
great and beneficial educator of our people it mijst be 



39 
light to all good citizens and lightening to every soul 
that doeth evil. Now and again we read, or hear it 
stated, that there is no common law in America. It is 
only in a very superficial sense that such a view can 
be held. It is surprising that a democracy a sovereign 
people should have no common law. The fact is that 
in America there is no law but common law. Every 
declaration, every constitution, every legislative act, 
every decision of the courts is only a more or less ade- 
quate expression of the common law. As McKinley 
believed in the people, so he believed in the people's 
law, in the common law, in natural law as over against 
all conventionalistic and positivistic views of law. He 
believed the common law was just, because it expressed 
the conscience of the people; that it was stable, be- 
cause it represented the growth of centuries of human 
experience ; that it was progressive, because it is cap- 
able of being modified to meet all human exigencies. 
This has been the belief of all our great statesmen 
from Washington to Roosevelt. For this kind of law 
McKinley stood and every true American must both 
stand and work. As we are always face to face with 
the question whether we really have a democracy so 
we are always face to face with the question whether 
we have a system of laws that is at the same time a 
system of equity. A free people can maintain its free- 
dom only under law and it is an eternal vigilance of 
genius and patriotism that can steer the course be- 
tween anarchy and despotism. But here, as elsewhere, 
it is the letter that killeth but the spirit that giveth 
life. It is the spirit of the fathers and our own spirits 
that must triumph over our own selfishness and law- 
lessness. When we think of the spirit which made 
colonial America, we take courage; when we think of 



40 
the spirit that fought the revolution and framed the 
constitution, we take courage; when we think of the 
beginning of the Republican party we take courage. 
When I think of the Chicago convention of 1860 that 
dared in its second resolution to re-affirm the prin- 
ciples of the Declaration of Independence; when I 
think of the spirit of the old party in those stormy 
days, of its ideals and how men lived and died for 
them ; when I think of Abraham Lincoln rising like a 
great Colossus from the ranks of the people and for 
four long years never flinching in the face of duty 
under his Herculean tasks; when I think of Garfield 
and McKinley, giants of the people and incarnations 
of the American spirit of justice for all, I feel how 
vast, how magnificent, how potent is the moral capital, 
not only of the Republican party, but of the American 
people. It is high time that we Republicans in Ohio 
and especially in Cuyahoga County begin going to 
school to the great leaders and principles of the old 
Republican party. We have the vision of the mole. 
Let us have the vision of the eagle. Let us be baptized 
once again into this spirit; let us dare to re-affirm 
once again the fundamental law of our land ; let us 
catch the spirit and march to the music of such great 
statesmen as Washington, Lincoln and McKinley ; then 
shall we insure a government whose roots grip into 
eternal justice and whose blossoms and fruits are in 
the lives and labors of a free and powerful people. 

4. McKinley represented not only the people and 
the people's law but the ideals of the people. It was 
this that raised him high above the politician into the 
realm of enduring statesmanship. The people, its law 
and its religion stand or fall together. Its law is its 
sense of justice; religion is its sense of freedom. Jus- 



41 

tice and freedom are the two giant pillars upon which 
the great arch of democracy rests. These three as- 
pects of our national life have been traditionally in- 
separable in the lives of our great statesmen. They 
are inseparable in the life of William McKinley. It is 
no accident that the greatest statesmen of the world 
have been idealists harboring a profound belief in the 
destinies of their people under the guidance of Provi- 
dence; it is no accident that from the days of early 
Egypt until our day the great heroes of humanity have 
recognized a law higher than human prescriptions and 
a power superior to armies and navies; it was no 
accident that the immortal Mayflower compact began 
with the words, "In the name of God, Amen!" In the 
name of God, government began in America, in New 
England and in Virginia, and in the name of God it 
has been and must be preserved. America has always 
been imbued with idealism. It has unified our people 
and it constitutes our most pronounced national trait. 
We owe John Calvin much, for he is our spiritual 
father, in religion and government. The Puritans of 
New England, the Cavalier of Virginia, the Dutch of 
New York, the French Huguenots, and the Scotch 
Covenanters were all of them Calvinists and all of 
these are our fathers who carried Calvinism into the 
Declaration and into the Constitution. We, the chil- 
dren, have modified the rigors of their creed and soft- 
ened the asperities of their scheme of life, but we dare 
not call into question their fundamental principles and 
ideas. When the storm and stress come, we argue 
these principles right up to the throne of God, and 
accept the logic of Calvinism — that, "The voice of the 
people is the voice of God." McKinley was according 
to the flesh and the spirit a child of these fathers and 



42 

he towers before us in giant form proclaiming the 
same great principles which dwelt so powerfully in 
Franklin, Washington and Lincoln. Does some one 
say that the idealist emphasizes the general and loses 
sight of particulars? I affirm in view of all the great 
statesmen and generals and financiers and scientists 
and philosophers whose history is known to us that it 
is only the idealist and the generalizer who knows how 
to deal with particulars, while the slaves of detail 
make up the ranks of bungling mediocrity. 

McKinley's ideals were not idle fancies, but great 
potentialties for the realization of which he fondly 
hoped and patiently labored. His view of the destiny 
of the nation was as firm and grand as that of Wash- 
ington when he looked out upon the boundless wilder- 
ness of the West. He believed in arbitration, not only 
in international matters, but in all individual differ- 
ences and in all differences between capital and labor. 
On the floor of the 49th congress, in 1886, he declared, 
"I believe in arbitration as a principle." As he loved 
peace so he hated war. When the explosion in Ha- 
vanna harbor, in February, 1898, sent a thrill through 
the nation as a call to war; when men were eager to 
clutch the weapons of destruction, McKinley, the old 
soldier who never paled on the field of battle, bade the 
nation pause: "We must wait," he said, "until we 
perceive the justice of our movements," and he kept us 
waiting until he saw that the war was inevitable, and 
then he threw his whole soul into its speedy conclusion. 
So speedy and conclusive was the victory, so humane 
were the readjustments, that we scarcely realize today 
the epoch-making significance of the McKinley war 
and the superb statesmanship that controlled its inter- 
national relations. And then at last in that swan-song 



43 

address at Buffalo we hear his commercial valedictory 
to the nation, which should ring in our ears until its 
meaning is realized. "Reciprocity treaties are in har- 
mony with the spirit of the times, measures of retali- 
ation are not." It is a matter for regret that we have 
so far been unable to secure such a treaty with any 
important European nation. Although reciprocity 
treaties are difficult to secure and when secured are 
difficult to enforce, they represent the high commercial 
ideal toward which we should strive. When we con- 
sider his moral and political idealism we may say that 
if there was ever a man amongst us who followed the 
"Prince of Peace," that man was William McKinley. 
Such men have made America fortunate above all 
the lands of mother earth ; fortunate in her territory, 
that is able to make her the granary of the world ; for- 
tunate in her mineral resources, so opened as to place 
her industries and commerce in the van of the nations ; 
fortunate in her population, which however hetero- 
geneous in race are moulded by the American spirit 
into a homogeneous citizenship ; fortunate in her insti- 
tutions of government, of education and of religion, 
that are ever stimulating her people to realize the 
ideals of the fathers. As long as America can produce 
such men as have guided our destines to the present 
time, as long as such men command our reverence and 
fire our devotion to country and warn us that "corrup- 
tion wins not more than honesty," so long will our 
body politic be robust with health and strength, and 
the American spirit be the light and inspiration of 
the nations of the earth. 



THE PLACE OF McKINLEY IN HISTORY 

Paul F. Sutphen, D. D. 

This address was delivered at the annual McKinley 
Day banquet, held in Chamber of Commerce Hall, 
January 29th, 1908. 

Other speakers at the banquet table were Hon. D. E. 
McKinlay, of California, and Secretary of War Wil- 
liam H. Taft. 

Rev. Caspar Wistar Hiatt pronounced the Invoca- 
tion. 

Toastmaster, Lieut. -Governor Francis W. Treadway, 
introduced the speaker. 

•I" + •f 

The greatest heritage which any nation ever re- 
ceives from the past is the heritage of history ; it may 
fall heir to other and more tangible things, to the 
accumulated wealth of preceding generations, to the 
science and inventions of those who have gone before, 
yet it is the history of a nation which creates and in- 
spires national ideals, which develops national con- 
sciousness which intensifies patriotism. Little Hol- 
land and little Switzerland are tiny states in the pres- 
ence of their neighbors, but their splendid history, 
out of all proportion to their area, wealth or popula- 
tion, entitles them to a high rank among the nations 
of the earth. In the final analysis, nations are made 
up not of things, not of acres, or cities, or factors, or 
millions, but of men ; and it is what those men are, 
what they have done and are doing, that gives a na- 
tion's existence any significance whatsoever. 

Here in America we are justly proud of our na- 
tional domain, of our great commerce, of our vast 
wealth, of the industry of our citizens, but we feel 

45 



4(J 
that it is not for any nor for all of these that we are 
willing to live or to die ; these are our means of living, 
they are not our life. Back of us is the stored-up 
manhood of one hundred and thirty years, — a manhood 
which has been tested over and over again in the hot 
furnace of national trial and has never been found 
wanting. At the beginning of our history, that man- 
hood found its most fitting exponent in the heroic 
figure of the immortal Washington. When the nation 
entered upon the second great period of its history, 
that manhood found its type in the rugged personality 
of the second father of his country — Abraham Lincoln. 
When the third epoch dawned, it was represented by 
the strong, the genial, the lovable presence of him in 
whose memory we are assembled tonight, the third 
martyr President of the republic, William McKinley. 
I do not mention these three names together as 
implying that they were men of equal greatness nor 
that Providence assigned to them tasks of equal magni- 
tude ; they were men very dissimilar from one another. 
The part which any one of them played was very likely 
a part which neither of the others could have played. 
But they were alike in this, that each of them was a 
typical American of his own generation — a genuine 
product of American institutions and devoted to those 
institutions with' undying loyalty; and, furthermore, 
it can be said of these three men as it cannot be said 
of any others who have occupied the presidential chair, 
that they are respectively identified with the three 
great epochs which have thus far marked the history 
of the United States, so that the epoch and the name 
of the man associated with it will ever be almost in- 
terchangeable terms. 



47 

I need hardly more than mention in this presence 
what those epochs are. For eight long years of toil- 
some war, when the nation was struggling to be born ; 
in the critical days which followed when the new con- 
stitution was superseding the loose Articles of Con- 
federation, and for two generations afterwards, when 
the infant republic was growing up into childhood and 
early youth, the hand which guided its destinies and 
the name which was invoked as the last standard of 
authority was the hand and the name of Washington. 
Few historians have dwelt sufficiently upon his almost 
miraculous influence in holding the States together 
during that stormy generation which immediately pre- 
ceded the Civil War. Being dead, he yet spoke with 
commanding voice to his countrymen; what he said 
about the importance of union was still ringing in 
their ears ; to disobey that voice seemed like sacrilege, 
so completely was his great presence identified with 
the first epoch of our national life. 

The second epoch dawned with the "irrepressible 
conflict," when it was left for battle to decide whether 
we were a nation or a mere confederacy, bound to- 
gether by a rope of sand. Out of that conflict our 
national consciousness was born. Before 1861 we did 
not know what we were; some said one thing, some 
another; there was no sense of national unity. But 
who has doubted what we are since 1865? There has 
been no more talk of confederacy since then, no more 
talk of disunion. We are a nation ! The fact took hold 
upon the people something like a revelation ; it stirred 
their souls as they had never been stirred before. 
California is our country, and Maine, and Louisiana, 
as well as Ohio. A new meaning came into the na- 
tional motto; the emphasis now rested on the lonim 



48 
and not on the pluribus. You know how this sense of 
national unity, this national consciousness, as I have 
called it, kept on growing during the generation which 
followed the Civil War. How it thawed out sectional 
animosity, melted down provincial prejudice and fused 
the people into one; and during all this period when 
we were awakening to our national self-hood, the 
American name which was above every name, was that 
of Abraham Lincoln. His was the hand which guided 
the nation to its self-realization during those dreadful 
years of conflict, and, like Washington, his was the 
name invoked as the last standard of authority 
throughout the generation which followed his death. 
It was in the year 1898 that our country entered 
upon the third epoch in its history. The circumstances 
which introduced it were in themselves of compar- 
atively insignificant importance and certainly out of 
all proportion to their far-reaching results. The war 
with Spain was not any great affair; our adversary 
was weak, unprepared for the conflict, uniformly de- 
feated, and the war was over in a hundred days. But 
out of that comparatively insignificant struggle the 
United States emerged as a great World Power. Even 
up to that time the nation had been regarded as a sort 
of provincial republic by most of the countries of 
Europe. We were separated from the Old World by 
two great oceans ; we were not a factor to be seriously 
reckoned with in the world's politics ; we were hardly 
consulted on great international questions. We, who 
had already come to the realization of our national 
strength and unity, were not a little amused at the 
estimate put upon us by our European neighbors at 
that time. Our rashness was criticised in throwing 
down the gauge of war to such formidable fighters as 



49 
the Spaniards had always shown themselves to be. It 
was seriously expected that our navy would be wiped 
off the sea by the powerful fleets of Spain. The com- 
ments and prophecies of the European press at the 
opening of the war could not have well revealed a more 
dismal ignorance of the resources or self-consciousness 
of the American nation than they did. But what a 
change in world-wide opinion the war almost instantly 
effected ! It was not simply that American arms were 
uniformly successful both on land and sea ; it was the 
astonishing resources which the nation could instantly 
command, the millions which congress could vote with- 
out a moment's hesitation, the hundreds of millions 
which the people were so eager to pour into the treas- 
ury that they had to be restrained, the limitless supply 
of men who were willing to take the field, the patriot- 
ism of all classes of the people, and, by no means 
least, the fact that the veterans of the Civil War on 
both sides of that conflict, and their sons, forgetful of 
the past, were united in common loyalty to the old 
flag and marched with equal enthusiasm, shoulder to 
shoulder, to fight the battles of their common country. 
From that hour, the American republic sprang to a 
foremost place among the world's great powers. It 
could no longer be ignored in world politics; it had a 
word to say presently with respect to China and it was 
a word that was listened to. The novel sight of Ameri- 
can soldiers marching with the troops of the other 
great powers to the rescue of the legations at Pekin 
may be taken as typical of the changed position which 
the nation had come to occupy among the nations of 
the earth. The era of provincialism and isolation was 
over, the epoch of world-wide relations had come. 



50 

I mention these facts, gentlemen, only for one 
reason. The name which will ever be identified with 
this third great epoch in our history is the name of 
William McKinley. As surely as the name of Wash- 
ington is identified with the first period in our history 
and the name of Lincoln is identified with the second, 
so surely will the name of McKinley be identified with 
the third. There are some who will say that it was 
not he who created the influences which made the 
United States a world power. Neither did Washington 
create the influences which inevitably tended toward 
American independence, nor did Lincoln create the 
influences which ended in the consolidation of the na- 
tion. All these things were ultimately bound to come, 
but when the crises came these were the men of the 
hour, and so magnificently did each of them meet the 
crisis of his day that his name will ever be associated 
with the splendid result, — Washington with the birth 
and early days of the republic, Lincoln with its pres- 
ervation and nationalization, McKinley with its ex- 
pansion into a great world power. 

President McKinley must have keenly realized, 
when he faced the Spanish war, that its results would 
be far-reaching. We had not been in armed conflict 
with a European power since 1812. Spain had many 
friends on the other side of the sea. The event proved 
that our only friend was Great Britain. Complica- 
tions might easily have ensued which would have made 
the conflict formidable. Skilful diplomacy was as nec- 
essary as military and naval leadership. Furthermore, 
it was a foregone conclusion that the success of the 
war would place Cuba under our protectorate and the 
other Spanish colony in the Western Hemisphere in 
our hands. It was not yet foreseen that to this the 



51 

Philippines would be added, but it was evident that we 
should be compelled to assume the as yet to us untried 
experiment of a colonial power. This was foreign to 
our traditions and would involve problems, constitu- 
tional and otherwise, which we had never before been 
compelled to face. As a matter of fact, these colonial 
dependencies, especially the Philippines, had hardly 
come into our possession before the storm at home 
broke upon the President's head. We are not here con- 
cerned with the merits of the controversy. I allude 
to these things only to remind you of the difficulties 
which William McKinley encountered, both at home 
and abroad, in meeting the inevitable situation which 
made the United States a great world power. He was 
a man of peace, but when the war became inevitable 
he never faltered; he was willing to accept all the 
responsibilities which the new career of his country 
laid upon his shoulders. He was not frightened by 
hostile criticisms abroad, nor by strictures on his 
colonial policies at home. He realized that the country 
was entering upon a new era and he stood calmly with 
his hand upon the helm of the ship of state, guiding 
her between the rocks into these unknown seas. The 
greatness of the man will be realized more keenly by 
those who shall come after us who will see him in the 
perspective of history. Not the least significant thing 
in his career is the fact that his last public utterance, 
on the day when he was struck down by an assassin, 
dealt with questions of reciprocity which, while hav- 
ing to do mainly with trade relations, was in direct line 
with the whole trend of his administration to make 
the United States one of the leading powers of the 
world. 



52 

You will perhaps be disappointed, gentlemen, that 
I have not dwelt more upon the man himself, upon his 
sturdy boyhood in a plain American home, upon the 
']y young soldier going away at seventeen to fight his 
country's battles in the Civil War, upon his heroism 
in the field, upon his study and early practice of the 
y law, upon his fourteen brilliant years in congress 
where his clear resonant voice, charged with the elo- 
quence of resistless logic, so often carried all before 
it; upon his statesmanship as Governor of Ohio, and 
most of all, upon his personal winsomeness ; upon his 
devoted affection for his friends ; upon his chivalry 
i and tenderness, like a knight of olden times, toward 
her who had shared his joys and sorrows, and surely, 
but not least, upon his unalterable faith in God, never 
more deeply manifested than in his last hours, when, 
I dying at the hand of an assassin, he murmured, "It is 
God's^ way. His will be done." 

But with all of these facts in his life, brilliant as 
many of them are and unspeakably tender as are 
others, you are perfectly familiar. I have rather de- 
sired in this brief address to point out to you the en- 
during place which William McKinley is bound to 
occupy in the history of the United States ; the fact 
that he, so to speak, ushered in the third epoch of our 
national life, and that this fact, if no other, would 
give him a place of enduring fame. 

It is always difficult for the contemporaries of 
any character to estimate the real elements of his 
greatness. Personal friendship is sure to over-esti- 
mate his virtues as hostility is sure to under-estimate 
his worth. Washington had bitter enemies who could 
not see the greatness which his friends saw in him. 
Some of us can remember the time when there were 



those who considered it sacrilege to mention the name 
of Lincoln in the same breath with that of Washing- 
ton. McKinley had no personal enemies, and even 
those who differed from him on political questions 
never failed to recognize the sterling qualities of the 
man. Yet it is too soon for any of us to say with con- 
fidence just how great a man posterity will declare 
him to have been. We must wait until years shall 
afford the right perspective, until all controversies 
about his policies have died away, until the results of 
his life work shall be tested as only future events can 
test them. But whatever the verdict of posterity may 
be as to his greatness, his identification with the third 
epoch in our national life makes his fame secure. He 
stands like his two great predecessors to whom I have 
frequently referred this evening, at the parting of the 
ways. Our history will never be again what it was 
before he became President of the republic. Whether 
we will or no, we must take our part henceforth in the 
congress of the world. Other things than trade and 
commerce will mark our intercourse with other na- 
tions. The days of our quiet life of isolation are over ; 
we are in the forefront of the nations of the world. 

I am glad, gentlemen, you are in the habit of re- 
membering the day of William McKinley's birth. He 
was a son of whom Ohio was always justly proud; he 
reflected infinite credit upon his native State and .she^ 
can well afford to honor him. We shall not soon for- 
get his dignified yet genial presence, his stirring words 
of eloquence, nor the utter manliness and nobility of 
his soul. 

How better can I conclude these words than by 
applying to William McKinley the sentiments which 
he uttered respecting Washington in his address to 



54 

the officers and students of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania on Washington's birthday, 1898 — 

"We love to recall his noble unselfishness, 
his heroic purposes, the poM^er of his magnifi- 
cient personality, his glorious achievements 
for mankind, and his stalwart and unflinch- 
ing devotion to independence, liberty and un- 
ion. * * * "vye have every incentive to 
cherish his memory and teachings. * * * 
The priceless opportunity is ours to demon- 
strate anew the enduring triumph of Ameri- 
can civilization and to help in the progress 
and prosperity of the land we love." 



McKINLEY THE MAN 

Col. John J. McCook. 

This address was delivered at the annual banquet 
held at The Hollenden, January 29th, 1909. 

Other speakers were William S. Bennett, Congress- 
man from New York, and Robert W. Tayler, U. S. 
District Judge. The Toastmaster, Governor Myron T. 
Herrick, in introducing the speaker referred to him as 
a member of the family of "Fighting McCooks." (Col. 
McCook was the youngest and only surviving member 
of a family of nine sons all of whom served in the Civil 
War.) 

For the following brief synoposis of this speech 
the publisher is indebted to the files of the Cleveland 
Leader : 

+ 4' 4* 

It is a great pleasure to be here this evening. I 
congratulate this club on these splendid anniversary 
banquets. We, who live in the effete East, appreciate 
good things and we always know it is a good thing if 
it originates in Ohio. I am delighted that you have 
invited me here. 

I am not prepared to deliver a formal address. 
I wish only to speak a few words from the heart about 
the man we loved, a man gentle as a woman but with 
red corpuscles in his blood. 

McKinley was the embodiment of service, of serv- 
ice to God, service to his friends, to his family and to 
humanity. The man or woman, who saw Mr. Mc- 
Kinley in the home, could have only one sentiment 
and that of admiration for this man. No matter how 
busy he was, his thoughts quickly turned to his invalid 
wife. In his home he set an example every American 
ought to follow. He was a man who was earnestly 

55 



56 

religious. He spoke little of his thoughts but he 
walked humbly with his God. He tried to be abso- 
lutely just but tempered mercy with his justice. 

If there are good men and true in this State of 
Ohio, it is because they are the sons of godly women, 
women like the mother of McKinley. 

I saw McKinley first during a campaign with the 
Army of The Potomac. General Grant introduced me 
to him. He was Captain McKinley then, a youth of 
twenty years, "ruddy and of good complexion," like 
David. We were both from Ohio and naturally be 
came acquainted easily and quickly. He was then 
the keen-cut specimen of the volunteer soldier. 

Mr. McCook told how in one battle Capt. McKinley 
went through a heavy fire to the rear to get coflfee and 
crackers for the men and how they cheered him until 
the Confederates thought that the Federals were 
cheering because reinforcements had reached them. 

He related the story of a young soldier's death — 
that of his brother, which fact few of his audience 
realized. This youth, a student at Kenyon college, 
volunteered at the outbreak of hostilities and was 
killed at the first battle of Bull Run. As he died in 
his father's arms the boy repeated: 

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" — it is 
sweet to die for one's country. 

Let us live so that this nation will be better for 
our lives. 

Remember the name of McKinley in connection 
with service, with service for God, for country, for 
family and for humanity. 




MYRON T. HERRICK. 

KX-GON'KKXOK OK OHIO. I ' k !■; S i: .\ T A.\li:.\SS.\l)OK 

TO FR.WCE, WHO WAS liOL'M) TO McKlM.l'A 

I!V SO CLOSE A TIE OF FKl EN DSIl 1 1' 

THAT HE TS LLNKED WITH 

HIS MKMOm', 



WILLIAM McKINLEY 

John A. Shauck, 
Judge of The Supreme Court of Ohio. 

This address was delivered at the annual banquet o£ 
The Tippecanoe Club held on January 29th, 1910, at 
The Hollenden. 

Other speakers were President James B. Ruhl of 
the Club, Congressman James T. Burke of Pennsyl- 
vania and Wade Ellis, Assistant U. S. Attorney Gen- 
eral. 

Toastmaster, Governor Myron T. Herrick, intro- 
duced the speaker. 

■T "T" "t 

We may congratulate ourselves on the large and 
rapidly increasing number of our Memorial days. 
That the youngest of all the great nations has the 
longest roll of those who are justly deemed worthy to 
be regarded as immortals is a source of national pride. 
But it should not start surprise, although this distinc- 
tion has come to us in our national youth, when we 
have scarcely lost touch with those who became dis- 
tinguished for transcendent qualities of leadership in 
the achievement of our independence and the establish- 
ment of our institutions. 

For the quickening of patriotism in the ancient 
republics resort was had to mythology and legend. 
We stir our hearts and the hearts of our children, and 
teach the value of our institutions, by recalling the 
lives and deeds and precepts of those who brought to 
the field unsurpassed valor and endurance and to the 
council a statesmanship which devised the most intri- 
cate form of government ever known and the most 
efficacious for the preservation of the liberties of all 

59 



()0 

the generations which may comprehend its value and 
respect the restraints which it imposes. By as much 
as we honor those whose valor and patience expelled 
tyranny from these shores, and those whose profound 
statesmanship enshrined the achievement in a per- 
manent constitution, by so much should we honor those 
who in the following years have developed the might 
of that instrument by matchless adjudications and 
wise laws, and who in peace and war have maintained 
our heritage and led us by the paths which nations 
tread with honor. And so for the purposes of ad- 
monition, instruction and emulation we are one with 
this line of immortals with the earlier of whom our 
grandfathers were contemporaries, and with the later 
some of us who are not yet old lived in the relation 
of close personal friendship. 

Among these in worthy companionship is the 
name of William McKinley. If I were eloquent I could 
thrill you with not overdrawn portrayals of his de- 
votion to wife and mother, of his fidelity to military 
duty, of his high honor in politics, and of his self- 
abnegation when obligation to friends was involved, 
and of his longing for the honor of his country and 
the well being of his fellow men. But mere eulogy 
would fall short of the highest purpose of this occa- 
sion. We are yet too near to his career and too much 
disturbed by the atrocious crime which ended it to 
analyze his character with exactness. But some 
sources of his power and efficiency lie upon the sur- 
face. Whether from innate qualities or from educa- 
tion, his purposes were carefully formed, and his de- 
votion to their accomplishment was complete. At the 
age of 17 he entered the army, one of the very youngest 
of the magnificent host who asserted the might of the 



i 



(il 

nation to enforce the rule of a lawfully ascertained 
majority. In the army he Vv^as disciplined in self re- 
straint and prepared for later civil and military duties. 
The years of his public service were notable for his 
abiding subordination to the laws prescribing and 
limiting his official duties. His great influence was 
due in a large degree to the high personal esteem in 
which he was held by his contemporaries. He did 
seek an understanding of public opinion because he 
was wise enough to appreciate the folly of enactments 
which are not sustained by the general will. The flow 
of his blood was never checked by the dreary isolation 
which surrounds one who imagines himself to be the 
sole repository of virtue and wisdom. He appreciated 
and revered the patience and wisdom with which the 
fathers had gathered the fruits of Magna Charta and 
of the Revolution, and distributed the powers of gov- 
ernment among coordinate departments for the secur- 
ing of individual liberty. He recognized the virtue and 
wisdom, not only of the fathers, but of his contempor- 
aries. He did not believe that our institutions had 
so failed of their purpose as to develop a generation of 
voters who persistently choose the least worthy of 
their number for positions of honor and authority. 
His zeal for the welfare of the people was founded 
upon the deep conviction that they were worthy. So 
admirable was his attitude toward his fellows and 
toward those exercising the functions of the other de- 
partments of the government, that his political ad- 
versaries and his rivals in his own party were his 
personal friends ready to rejoice at his preferment 
and in the success of his measures. 

Most of his formative years were devoted to 
studies and pursuits which qualify for statesmanship. 



62 

But called to the office of President because of tested 
qualities so developed, an unexpected foreign war soon 
demonstrated that the ardent lover of peace was fully 
qualified to discharge the duties of Commander in 
Chief of the Army and Navy. The world wondered 
at the promptness with which, under his leadership, 
enough of our resources to meet the emergency was 
called forth from a condition of profound peace. His 
judgment of men was unerring, his vision far. In 
cabinet, at foreign courts, on sea and land, stations 
of responsibility were occupied by men who filled them. 
It was not by accident, but by his careful design, that 
our ships were so admirably distributed — that Dewey 
was at Manila and Sampson at Santiago. It was due 
to his sagacity and firmness that the enemy sur- 
rendered that position instead of evacuating it. The 
glamour of war did not obscure his perception of the 
purposes for which it was waged, nor dim his vision 
of the splendor which the nation was to achieve by 
the ways of peace. He knew from the beginning that 
victory would be ours, that to create waste places in 
the earth was no part of our mission, and that civili- 
zation would require us to set up and maintain a sov- 
ereignty wherever we should destroy one. None but 
the highest qualities of statesmanship could have so 
adapted the terms of peace to realize and secure the 
just results of a successful war. 

The wise designer of public policies, he added 
charm and grace to reason to secure their adoption. 
■^, Born to toil, he wore the simple virtues of his youth 
over the more than kingly robes which he had placed 
upon him. It was inevitable that he should be de- 
veloped by such institutions as ours, for his varied 



()3 

experiences and achievements would have defied classi- 
fication in any land of fixed social conditions. 

We do not accept the suggestion that his earlj- 
death conduced to the stability of his fame. In con- 
templating the life and death of such a man there is 
no consolation in the thought that the grave shields 
from temptation and exempts from conflict. He was 
cast in heroic mold. If the years of the patriarchs had 
been allowed him he would have held his way blameless 
through them all, and he loved the conflict for the 
right. Every good cause is weaker today because he is 
not here. In all the course of time there will be no 
generation but would have been happier and better 
if he had lived longer. His last public utterance was 
for the greatness of the nations through peace and fra- 
ternity. We may not wholly appropriate the love of 
this cosmopolitan in philanthropy, for it is the herit- 
age of mankind. But from intimate association he 
became peculiarly our friend. For which of us does 
memory perform an oflnce more welcome than when it 
recalls the kindly face we cannot see and his cheery 
greeting now silent? 

Have we drawn all the lessons which are plainly 
suggested by his life and death? Certainly we have 
not. The toleration of schools of anarchy means the 
continuance of a condition in which the stamp of pub- 
lic approval placed upon an honored citizen will be 
translated into "the fatal asterisk of death." It also 
denotes our failure in the performance of grave inter- 
national obligations. 

Soon after the close of the Civil War we asserted 
a demand against England for damages resulting from 
her negligent failure to perform the duty imposed 
upon her by the law among nations to prevent the 



64 

arming of privateers and their issuing from her ports 
to prey upon our commerce. The duty implied in our 
demand was admitted. The negligent failure to per- 
form it was denied. The question Avas decided in our 
favor by distinguished arbitrators and the damages 
awarded were paid. Nearly continuously from that 
time until now we have tolerated within our borders, 
the schools of anarchy and their kindergartens — the 
schools of socialism. The destruction of public order 
and the murder of rulers have been openly taught. 
Processions have marched the streets of cities bearing 
flags alien and hostile, not only to our government, 
but to all others. Officers have been murdered in pur- 
suance of these teachings and in the execution of con- 
spiracies consistent with them. Some of those under- 
going imprisonment for such overt acts of murder 
were pardoned by a governor of one of the states, and 
that official has since been received with honor and 
tolerated as a teacher of political sociology. The nat- 
ural results of such toleration and encouragement have 
followed with bewildering rapidity. A few years ago 
the members of this association compassed the murder 
of the head of the existing government of Italy, and 
pursuant to their appointment a wretch left our shores 
to execute their base decree, and he executed it. The 
foul deed filled pitying men with horror which only 
encouraged the teachers of crime. The propagation 
of their doctrines continued, and we now contemplate 
their latest achievement. 

Perhaps we may not hope for the cessation of 
homicides resulting from such promptings as spring 
spontaneously in depraved hearts and disordered 
minds ; but the mentally and morally weak are prone 
to act upon suggestion, and the toleration of schools 



65 

of criminal suggestion is a national disgrace. That 
the foul deed we now contemplate was due to such 
suggestion is made clear by the assassin's associations 
and his declarations. It is the lesson of history that 
public disorder is the tyrant's welcome and that liberty 
is never secure except when its excesses are restrained 
and prevented by public law. 

McKinley's memory belongs to mankind and to 
the ages. His will not be the first American name to 
be repeated with affection and reverence wherever 
upon the earth men and women honor private and 
public virtue, and aspiring to the greatest attainable 
happiness for themselves and their children, pray for 
equal opportunities secured by wise laws faithfully ad- 
ministered. His legacy to mankind is an ail-embrac- 
ing philanthropy. To this nation it is an illustrious 
example of manifold responsibilities bravely borne, 
and of the gravest duties well performed. Amid these 
scenes and in this generation every tribute will be in- 
complete which does not recall the charm and fidelity 
with which he honored personal friendship. 



McKINLEY 

John Wesley Hill, 

Pastor Metropolitan Temple, 
New York City. 

This address was delivered January 28th, 1911, at 
the Tippecanoe banquet at The HoUenden. 

Other speakers were Henry Lewis Stimson, now 
Secretary of War under President Taft, Congressman 
Frank B. Willis of Ada, Ohio, and Henry B. Chap- 
man, Judge Common Pleas Court, Cleveland, Ohio. 

Toastmaster, William L. Day, U. S. Dist. Attorney, 
introduced the speaker. 

+ + Ht" 

The stonecutters of the Parthenon were so blinded 
by the dust of the chiseling that they could not see 
the full glory of the temple which leaped from the 
brain of Ictinus, and croM^ned the hills of Athens. 
Neither can we fully appreciate the symmetry and 
magnificence of this great personality who has risen 
in our midst and blinded our eyes with the brilliancy 
of his achievements — a man in whom the great qual- 
ities blended like the commingling of many streams; 
patience without indolence; meekness without stu- 
pidity; courage without rashness; caution without 
fear; justice without vindictiveness ; piety without in- 
fidelity, and faith without superstition — such was 
William McKinley. 

"The elements so mixed in him that great nature 
might stand up and say to all the world, 'This is a 
man, aye, and such a man that, taken all in all, we 
shall not see his like again.' " His statesmanship was 
vindicated by results. A surgeon once said, "We had 
a splendid operation in our hospital today, you ought 

66 



67 
to have seen it." Some one asked, "Did the man 
live?" The surgeon replied, "No, they always die in 
that operation, but it was a splendid operation." That 
surgeon could not apply his rule to statesmanship. 
Statesmanship must be a successful operation. Meas- 
ured by this law, "McKinley's statesmanship reaches 
the highest type." 

When he went to the White House we were a 
moderate sea power in these western waters, content 
with our coast and lakes. We were still practicing the 
advice of George Washington in his farewell address 
to beware of entangling alliances with the old world. 
That was just the advice we needed at a time when 
we were limited in numbers and resources, when our 
population along the seaboard was sparse and we knew 
very little of the great inland empire beyond the Alle- 
ghanies, but since then the world has moved, and 
America leads the world. We are no longer a hermit 
nation; we have stepped from isolation into the in- 
finitude of a worldwide relationship. 

This new era of international influence and power 
dates from the day that William McKinley moved into 
the White House. Prior to that, w-e were glad to oc- 
cupy any place at the International Festal Board, 
where we never failed to wear our little anti-expansion 
bib, which at last looked like a cotton patch on the 
front of our blue uniform. 

But today, where Uncle Sam sits is the head of 
the table. The financial center of the world has been 
transferred from Bond Street to Wall Street, and the 
political center from Windsor Castle to the White 
House. All eyes are upon our William the Silent. He 
is the international McGregor. His hand is on the 
carver and his foot upon the call bell. He dishes out 
all the supplies. Our commerce is going everywhere, 



68 

our sails whiten all seas. The city of London is 
lighted tonight with gas extracted from Alabama coal, 
so that we are actually "carrying coals to Newcastle." 

Providence pushed us into this new era. We 
were expanded without being consulted upon the ques- 
tion. When God has a task to be performed, He al- 
ways finds the right agent. Jonah was loath to start 
upon his missionary tour, and so the Lord whaled him 
to his task. We were unwilling to start upon our 
providential errand, and so He permitted us to be 
blown to ours. We were expanded without being con- 
sulted upon the question. 

One night Spain planted a magazine under the 
Maine, and then we were blown all around creation. 
We went up into the air and came down everywhere 
— to stay ! Spain expanded us and we disbanded 
Spain. We laid aside our anti-expansion bib and 
taught Spain not to fool with the stars and stripes. 
We stripped her until she saw stars. And so today 
we are one nation. A power that must be reckoned 
with in the adjustment of boundary lines and spheres 
of political and commercial influence. 

The great Talleyrand once said, "Language is the 
art of concealing ideas." Diplomacy for the most 
part looks one way and goes the other. Under the 
magic touch of William McKinley a new diplomacy 
was created, a diplomacy which set before the world 
exactly what he thought ought to be done and how he 
intended to do it. We see this illustrated in the way 
he handled the great problems at home and abroad. 
He first and alone recognized the importance of pre- 
serving the integrity of China. A long war between 
China and the western nations meant the partitioning 
of China for the liquidation of the financial obliga- 



69 

tions involved in such a war. To dismember China 
would involve two great unmeasured worldwide ca- 
lamities, namely, the perpetuation of heathenism by 
the centuries, and the narrowing of the world's march 
by the loss of the "most favored nation" clause. 

f McKinley had the vision of the statesman. He 

saw the importance of the point at issue, and he put 
unmeasured emphasis upon the necessity of maintain- 
ing the integrity of China. It necessitated keeping 
the Chinese minister at Washington, and the continu- 
ance of diplomatic relations with China during the 
Boxer riots. 

True, Chinese soldiers were uniting with the Box- 
ers, and the empress dowager encouraged and re- 
warded them, and promoted the enemies of the "for- 
eign devils." Still, McKinley called it a "Riot," and 
maintained peace with the Chinese government. He 
brought all the powers to the same ground, and thereby 
averted a long war, reducing the damages so much 
that they could be settled in money instead of land. 
And today our country is the residuary legatee of the 
statesmanship of McKinley in solving the problems of 
the Far East. 

Japan, Corea, and China with five hundred mil- 
lions of people, three times the population of Europe, 
one-third the population of the human race, are all 
facing this way. Long before the close of this century 
these will be Christian nations. Then they will de- 
mand the products of our soul and soil; great cities 
will spring up in the pathway of this widening trade, 
our deserts will be crowded by industrious millions, 
cheap electric power will lift the water onto those rich 
plains until booming like a garden, they will support 



70 

a population as dense as is now supported in the valley 
of the Ganges. 

There is a tradition that the swan, the night be- 
fore it dies, sings a wonderful song. This may be a 
myth, but it is no myth that William McKinley, the 
last day of his public life, gave expression to an utter- 
ance which we regard today as a legacy of priceless 
value. 

That last speech delivered at the Pan-American 

Fair will pass down in the history of this government 

like a clear, sharp, bas-relief, cut on a precious stone, 

showing President McKinley with his face toward the 

future. 

/ Protection and reciprocity; Arbitration rather 

than War; Commerce and not Slaughter; One great 

/ international family ; Friends and not Enemies ; these 

' were the thrilling themes which occupied his mind, 

constituting an Epic worthy of Greek chorus. And 

today, we are just entering upon the full fruition of 

that incomparable death song. 

Protection, modified to changed conditions, scien- 
tifically arranged and impartially executed, — protec- 
tion for revenue to meet the expense of the govern- 
ment, and to protect American industries from com- 
petition with the pauperized labor of the old world, — 
protection, representing the diff'erence in the cost of 
production at home and abroad, — this is the protection 
which William McKinley was the apostle of, the Re- 
publican party is the embodiment, and William How- 
ard Taft is the defender. 

Peace, with self-respect and honor, recognizing 
the possibilities of war, and yet anxious and alert to 
avoid the horrors of war, peace, with ample coast 
defense, with the fortification of the Panama Canal, 



with an army ready for any emergency and a navy 
second to none on the high seas, and yet all these 
compacted forces and resources consecrated to the 
arbitrament of the pen, rather than the roar of the 
artillery, — this was the prophetic dream of William 
McKinley. And this is the pacific statesmanship of 
President Taft, who is now appealing for an inter- 
national court of arbitration, where international 
differences may be settled in the fear of God, and the 
love of man. 

Reciprocity, this is the password given by Mc- 
Kinley in his last round of the sentries, and it is the 
password taken up and repeated by President Taft, 
within the past forty-eight hours, in his special mes- 
sage to congress, appealing for a reciprocity treaty 
with Canada, an appeal which should fire the enthusi- 
asm of the nation, and speedily result in such con- 
gressional legislation as shall unite in reciprocal bonds 
two peoples linked together by race, language, politi- 
cal institutions and geographical proximity. 

Through such a trade agreement between Canada 
and the United States these countries, touching along 
a boundary line of three thousand miles, will pass in 
and out of a common camp. Reciprocity is the slot in 
which protection can work without straining the ma- 
chinery. It exchanges exclusiveness for neighborli- 
ness and brotherhood. Proclaimed from the Pan- 
American Fair, it struck and fitted the Americas from 
pole to pole. These continents are bound together. 
They are geographically indissoluble. They have com- 
mon problems and face a common destiny. They are 
linked by the great law of supply and demand. Lying 
on opposite sides of the equator, they command all the 
seasons and all the crops all the time. 



\ 



72 

We need to cultivate our South American trade 
also; we need a rapid steamship line plying from con- 
tinent to continent. We need to restore our flag to 
the high seas. It is a shame that we should permit 
the South American trade to be appropriated by 
Europe. The time has come for more intimate com- 
mercial relations between the peoples of the western 
hemisphere, and especially between the millions of 
the temperate and trophic zones. 

Teetering across the equator we can multiply the 
blessings of each and grow rich and strong together. 
The connection can only be made by express trains, 
and fast sailing refrigerator steamers, means for the 
interchange of products by land and sea, under a 
reciprocal treaty which shall make each the richer 
and stronger through the equitable interchange of 
natural products. Thus united we can command the 
world's greatest markets and secure a commercial 
future that shall astonish the statistician. 

And so we see that McKinley's fame, like Linclon's 
and Grant's, rests upon "the arduous greatness of 
things achieved." Great indeed was his career. 

A soldier — he marched under the flag from the 
Ohio to the Gulf! 

A patriot — he off'ered his life for the preservation 
of the union ! 

A legislator — he had the most prominent name in 
congress ! 

A statesman — he secured the enactment of laws 
bearing upon his own nation, that embraced great and 
vital interests of every civilized nation — and lifted 
his own country from deepest distress to greatest 
prosperity ! 



73 

A leader — he directed a war that liberated millions 
of people from the most cruel and bloodthirsty despot- 
ism and drove that despotism out of the western hemis- 
phere in ninety days ! 

An administrator — he gave the country an ad- 
ministration that does not suffer when compared with 
the great administrations of the past. 

A president — he has adorned our history with 
such achievements that their luminousness shines 
brighter than the noonday sun, has penetrated the dark 
bosom of heathendom, and their suddenness has 
shocked all nations, and their greatness has made the 
whole world wonder. 




MARCUS A. HANNA, 



UXITED STATES SENATOR FROM OHIO 189S TO 1904. 

ONE OF McKINLEY'S CLOSEST FRIENDS AND 

GENERAL OF HIS POLITICAL 

CAMPAIGNS. 



WILLIAM McKINLEY 

Dan F. Bradley, Pastor Pilgrim Church, 
Cleveland, 0. 

This address was delivered at the annual banquet, 
held in Chamber of Commerce Hall, on January 29th, 
1912. 

This banquet was the most largely attended of any 
in the history of the Tippecanoe Club. 

William H. Taft, President of the United States, 
was the guest of honor. 

Among the speakers were William R. Coates, Presi- 
dent of the Club, Congressman Frank M. Nye of 
Minnesota, and President Taft. 

Mr. Bradley was introduced by Toastmaster, Wil- 
liam L. Day, U. S. District Judge. 

+ + + 

It is one of the qualities of this Tippecanoe Club, 
that it is loyal to the men it trusts with leadership — 
living, it follows them unflinchingly in good report and 
in ill — when they pass beyond the strife of tongues 
and the scowl of envy, it glorifies and honors their 
memory. It is one of the gracious customs of this Club 
which for all the three score and ten years of its his- 
tory has stood for the highest and best things in po- 
litical life, that once a year it comes and lays a fresh 
and fragrant wreath upon the memory of its most il- 
lustrious member who has gone to be with the immor- 
tals, typifying in that memorial to him its love and 
reverence for all those saints in its Calendar "who from 
their labors rest." 

For of all the long list of noble men whom it has 
admired and followed in peace and in war, in the front 
rank of political strife, or in the quiet efforts to organ- 
ize and furnish the sinews of the fight — of all that long 



78 

list from Wm. Henry Harrison down, a glorious com- 
pany of men who "went abroad redressing human 
wrong," William McKinley stood to represent the 
truest spirit of high patriotic resolve. So that he has 
come to embody for us the ideals of a citizenship which 
dares, and suffers, and achieves, and knows no fear ex- 
cept dishonor, and recognizes that nothing but coward- 
ice is to be counted as defeat. 

And it needs scarcely to be said here that this 
Tippecanoe Club is engaged in no perfunctory task 
when it honors his memory who 69 years ago was born 
of the plain iron worker of Niles, Ohio. We have 
not been engaged as a Club in stoning our prophets 
when living, and white-washing their tombs when they 
are dead, while shedding copious but reptilian tears. 
This Club believed in McKinley, stood by him in vic- 
tory and never forsook him in defeat, and when the 
storm of financial failure came, and that wilder temp- 
est of calumny beat upon him — men here in this room 
pledged their personal credit and risked their personal 
reputations as they rallied about him — even more en- 
thusiastically than ever, and in the teeth of sneers and 
jibes backed him for the Governorship and for higher 
honors, and marched triumphantly through the streets 
of St. Louis — as it helped to place him at the head of 
the great party, which once more in the hour of the 
nation's poverty and disaster, should win a deeper 
crimson for the old flag. And it was a member of this 
very Club, who as the fighting general of the Republi- 
can party in 1896, organized and informed the intelli- 
gence of this mighty nation, to meet the subtle soph- 
istries of repudiation and socialistic folly and defeat 
the schemes of misguided men who would have led the 
republic to the brink of ruin. I refer to our beloved 



71) 

friend and comrade and the friend of McKinley, Mar- 
cus A. Hanna. So the Tippecanoe Club now honors 
McKinley in sincerity and in truth, because it did not 
need to be converted to his principles after his death. 
For the Tippecanoe Club, while it has sometimes gone 
down to defeat, has never in defeat lowered its flag. 
It may have been sometimes whipped, but it never has 
been yellow, and in the campaign which is before us, 
its blood is red, and its brain is clear, and its purpose 
is unwavering and its loyalty is wholly and lovingly to 
him whom it followed to victory in 1908, the great 
wise President of the Republic, Wm. H. Taft. And 
revering and honoring McKinley's memory after he 
has gone, it declares to the world, now, what kind of 
man it delights to follow and honor in life as well as 
in death. 

As each year goes by, you bring to this occasion 
notable tributes of strong and eloquent utterance. But 
as I read over these annual addresses preserved in your 
archieves, my own heart sank — at the task given to 
me. For they have been kings of speech who have 
here delivered their tender eulogies, and "what can a 
man do who cometh after the king?" But I comfort 
myself that even if my little modest wreath of bay, 
shall seem to be inadequate as compared to those opu- 
lent offerings of roses and of orchids with which our 
hero's memory has hitherto been decorated, still there 
will be a certain distinction added to it because there 
sits with us here in the banquet hall to lend it grace, 
that living leader of our loyal hearts and the friend of 
McKinley, the greatest Republican of us all. 

So let me briefly take as my topic, Wm. McKinley, 
the typical citizen, from the standpoint of our Tippe- 
canoe Club. And for my text, let me go to the great 



80 
poet of modern spirit, Tennyson, for this word, modi- 
fied to suit our own land and time, "Not once or twice 
in our fair country's story — the path of duty was the 
way to glory." 

"He, that ever following her commands. 
On, with toil of heart, and knees, and hands. 
Thro' the long gorge, to the far light, has won 
His path upward and prevail'd. 
Shall find the toppling crags of Duty scaled 
Are close upon the shining table-lands 
To which our God Himself is moon and sun." 

The word duty spells the career of our hero. 
Whatever may have been his relation to it in the early 
life of home and school — it faced him with stern and 
grizzly front — when the call came to Ohio men to de- 
fend the flag. He was then 18. On July 21, 1861— 
the Union forces had suft'ered the disastrous defeat 
of Bull Run. Nine days later when the cause looked 
dark, Wm. McKinley enlisted as a private soldier. 
That was prophetic of the man. A year later this 
boy of 19, a sergeant in the line, was carrying hot 
coflfee and warm meat at the peril of his life to the men 
of the 23rd Ohio on the firing line at the bloody battle 
of Antietam. For that brave deed Gov. Tod gave him 
a lieutenant's commission, and Col. Hayes, afterward 
President, appointed him to his staff. As the war 
closed, Abrahani Lincoln brevetted him Major, for 
gallant and meritorious service, at the battles of Ope- 
quan. Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill. So ended that 
chapter. The boy who shouldered his musket because it 
was duty — had climbed the rugged cliff by personal 
bravery and daring — and thereafter we all called him 
tenderly and lovingly "Major," for he had earned the 
name. 



1 



81 

Twelve years go by, the Major has meanwhile been 
studying law and finding a place for himself in the 
world's work which no longer needed soldiers. More 
pathetic than the College graduate without a job or a 
profession, was the plight of these young ex-soldiers 
who mustered out in 1865 had spent four years away 
from home, and out of touch with ordinary life. An 
immigrant could get a job on the railroad or the fac- 
tory — but what could a young man of 22 do, after a life 
in the field and camp, especially if he had a title to 
uphold? How could a Major be a Freshman in College 
or dig a ditch? But Wm. McKinley cherished no il- 
lusions and got busy at once with his profession. In 
1868 he won the position of Prosecuting Attorney of 
Stark County, the only Republican elected in a Demo- 
cratic county. 

Eight years later in '76, he was drafted to contest 
the Democratic district, the old 18th — for a seat in 
Congress. Once more it was the call of duty to defend 
a cause. And that cause was the establishment of laws 
that should put the opportunity to labor within reach 
of every laboring man. It was a losing cause then. 
The people were clamoring for a reduction of war- ^ 
taj^es. All the Colleges were teaching Free-trade. The 
inflation of paper money had come to an end — and the 
pinch of a contracted specie basis was squeezing the 
life out of business — and people unreasonably clamored 
against the war tariff. McKinley, the iron worker, in- 
stinctively stood for the protection of the American 
worker against foreign competition ; for an industrial 
rather than an exclusively agricultural development as 
he had as a boy instinctively stood for freedom and the 
Union. It was the call of duty and he started in to 
make the fight which raged fiercely and incessantly 



82 
for twenty years till, in 1896 — the people overwhelm- 
ingly endorsed the American system and made him 
President. In that first fight in the fall of '76 he won 
the district, and won it again, tho' those were Demo- 
cratic years ; for Samuel J. Tilden had swept the coun- 
try against Republican ideas, and the old party ap- 
peared to be crumbling to pieces. With varying for- 
tunes the fight went on. The Major won his district 
once by 8 votes — but a hostile majority in the House 
unseated him. But he came back. Finally in 1890, 
he secured the passage of the McKinley bill — but the 
Democrats had redistricted the district and crowded 
him out, while the McKinley bill was rebuked by the 
execration of the people. The outcry recently heard 
against the Payne-Aldrich bill was as a gentle zephyr 
compared with the furious cyclone that caught the 
men who voted for the McKinley bill and buried them. 
Scarcely enough Republicans were elected to fill the 
minority share of the Committees of the House. At 
every fireside, in every laborer's home, up and down 
the country highways, men and women were taught to 
despise McKinley because he was taxing the tin dishes 
of the kitchen, and the tin pail of the working man. 
It was a terrible slaughter, that election of 1890, pav- 
ing the way for the triumph of Cleveland in 1892 and 
the panic of 1893. Yet the tin plate duty of the Mc- 
Kinley bill actually transferred to America that great 
and growing industry employing thousands of men. 

We men who shout and vote and have no call to 
hold office have little idea of the life of the man who 
tries to do his duty amid the rancor of political clamor 
— and suffers silently the barbed and poisoned arrow 
of cartoon and inuendo, and the gloating brutality that 



83 

encounters a man who is outvoted in an effort to fol- 
low his well-formed convictions. 

The Minie bullet and the bursting shrapnel are 
merciful as compared with the vicious darts of the ir- 
responsible scribbler in an editorial den. For you can 
shoot back in open battle — but how are you ever to 
reach the rhinoceros' hide of the villain who sends out 
his venomous slur from the secure hiding place of the 
newspaper office? Yet in all these years of fierce po- 
litical contest, McKinley never lost control of his own 
spirit. I remember how as a College man, I read with 
swelling pride his modest speech defending the title 
to his seat — when a hostile majority in the House had 
determined to unseat him, though he had 8 votes more 
than his rival. It was a man's appeal for justice — 
made in vain to that tribunal — but not in vain to the 
higher Court — for the people of his district sent him 
back the following year. Then when they geryman- 
dered his Congressional district he made no complaint 
— but the people made him Governor. In all of this 
there was no word of bitterness or rancor from him — 
and since that time the American people have been less 
willing to allow political passion to work its evil will. 
Since the days of McKinley — gerymanders have be- 
come unpopular — and never since then has Congress 
unseated a man for political reasons. For he taught 
the nation — the chivalry of political contest without 
personal malice. For twenty years McKinley did his 
duty without fear or favor, making laws that blessed 
and benefited every man and woman and child under 
the flag — laws that developed our resources, created 
great States out of the desert, spanned the continent 
with double rails and pipe lines — and offered work to 
every idle arm and every unoccupied brain in our grow- 



84 
ing nation. For who is the greatest benefactor of his 
kind ? Is it he who bestows his goods to feed the poor ? 
He is entitled to great credit for his generosity. Or 
is it he who having amassed a great fortune endows 
Colleges and builds libraries — to extend the blessings 
of letters and the arts? Certainly his meed of praise is 
sure. But is he not rather the greatest of all these — 
who gives his life to enabling other men to earn their 
own happiness, and amass their own modest compe- 
tence, and secure education and culture for their own 
children, by placing within their reach that self-re- 
specting work which makes men — strong and good 
men, who love their homes and their country. 

That was the service of McKinley in his 20 years 
of grueling combat for the American system. He put 
/ value into every rod of real estate — he reinforced the 
good right arm of every honest man — he made it possi- 
ble for the American brain to conquer the obstacles of 
nature — and create a great workshop on the American 
continent. In so doing he prodigiously increased the 
scope and influence of American moral and spiritual 
ideals — and caused the nation to leap forward with ac- 
celerated pace in its march toward human happiness. 
When the Dingley bill was passed in 1897, McKinley's 
great service for industry was completed — and the 
nation took its rightful place of influence and power 
among the mighty workmen of mankind. 

And that brings me again to the text with which 
I started. "Not once or twice in our fair country's 
story — the path of duty was the way to glory." With 
the principle of protection to American industry estab- 
lished once more, until perchance, a later generation 
made prosperous, should forget the lessons of indus- 
trial disaster; there loomed upon the southern hori- 



85 
zon the shadow of war. No man ever struggled 
in a more agonized Gethsemane, that that bitter 
cup should pass, than McKinley. But the war 

was inevitable and however disagreeable and distaste- 
ful, he waged it to a satisfactory conclusion. In its 
final settlement he inflicted upon Spain no needless 
humiliation, and a huge indemnity, was paid to a na- 
tion who was well rid of colonies that only sapped her 
life. It is a certain proof that President McKinley's 
magnanimous treatment of an unfortunate nation was 
appreciated by the Spanish people, that when peace 
was made, Spain's friendship was preserved and abides 
secure. But there remained for him the severest ques- 
tion of duty, that ever confronted him. What should 
be his policy regarding this territory added to the flag 
with its ignorant populations far away over seas? Was 
the Constitution big enough and flexible enough to 
reach to the Igorrote and the Moro? There were no 
precedents to follow. The easy course was apparent, 
and a majority of Americans favored it. To scuttle 
out of the Phillipines, and let the poor devils fight it 
out among themselves, or, turn them over for a con- 
sideration to ambitious world powers like Germany 
and Japan, and recover in their price the total cost of 
the war. The more diflficult and kindly plan was to 
occupy the place of benevolent guardian to these weak 
and ignorant peoples, and at great sacrifice lead them 
gently into ways of civilization and peace. 

But to do that involved a new conception of our 
national duty — a larger realization of the brotherhood 
of man — a profounder grasp upon the fact that the 
ideals of the American republic belonged not only to its 
own citizens but to all mankind. President McKinley 
was fortunate at that time in having at his side a 



86 

group of the wisest, truest, biggest men who ever con- 
stituted a President's advisers and aides ; such men as 
Elihu Root, Judge Day, John Hay and Wm. H. Taft 
with McKinley, could solve any political or legal or 
administrative problem ever presented to the puzzled 
mind of man. Such a group sitting in seats of power 
at Berlin or London or Paris today would assure the 
peace of humanity for all time. That he was able to 
summon such intellectual and moral giants to his aid, 
and hold their loyalty in a grip so firm and free from 
jealousy, marks him one of the strongest figures in our 
history. It was clear that to keep and administer the 
Phillipines and Porto Rico while surrendering Cuba 
to its people, would require great sacrifice, incur ter- 
rible political danger, and invite the sentimental ex- 
ecration of millions of good people. But "once more 
the path of duty was the way to glory" and McKinley 
as always, so then, followed it — with unflinching feet, 
with the result that the nation found itself not only 
patiently sitting down to teach the little brown men 
how to live the life of civilized folk, but unexpectedly 
found itself face to face with tremendous issues in 
Japan and in China — and ready, because of its pres- 
ence at Manila to lend a hand at the birth pangs of a 
new and yet to be glorious civilization in old Cathay. 
A hundred years from now — nay a thousand years 
from today when justice and peace shall prevail every- 
where — historians will tell with eloquence of that de- 
cision of Mr. McKinley, not to turn over Manila to 
Aguinaldo — not to scuttle out of the orient; not to 
sneak the old flag away from the disagreeable muddle 
in the western Pacific — but to stay and organize, and 
teach school and insist upon the "open door" and pre- 
sent before the land-hungry military powers of Europe 



87 
the calm, undisturbed, yet resolute front, of a free 
people and a powerful; who wanted nothing but jus- 
tice in the orient, and would be content with nothing 
short of justice in the dealing of the nations at Peking. 
When he stood before the people for the last time at 
Buffalo — the nation that had trusted him found itself 
under his leadership at the summit of its glory and 
wealth and power. 

So the memory of our hero is secure. For the 
achievements of his life are the heritage of all man- 
kind. Not only in Canton and in Cleveland will they 
speak of him, but in lands beyond the seas, under the 
tropical skies, under the palms of Cuba, the bamboos 
of Mindanao and the pines of Manchuria, the school 
teacher will gather her brood of brown faced or slant- 
eyed boys and girls — and tell of the days when Spain 
hauled down her flag at Havana, or when Russian and 
German, and Frenchman and Japanese camped in Pe- 
king to parcel out the land of celestials — of those days 
when there rose up one strong, patient, soldierly man 
in the Capitol at Washington — who stayed the fury of 
disorder in the islands, and broke up the plans of the 
national bandits in China, and made the beginning of 
a new Nation in the Carribean Sea, and saved the old- 
est nation from dissolution in the dragon land. And 
in accents strange to us, and out of the mouths of babes 
and sucklings yet unborn, there will be paid to him the 
tribute of little children upon whose country and 
whose homes he laid the gentle hand of peace. 
"His work is done. 

But while the races of mankind endure 

Let his great example stand 

Colossal, seen of every land. 

And keep the soldier firm, the statesman pure,. 

Till in all lands, and thro' all human story 

The path of duty be the way to glory." 



WILLIAM McKINLEY— MAN AND PATRIOT. 

Andrew B. Meldrum, T). T). 

This address has been kindly furnished the pub- 
lishers in advance of its delivery at the annual Mc- 
Kinley Day banquet, to insure its publication in this 
volume. It will be enough to say that while going 
to press arrangements are under way for this meeting 
at the Hotel Statler and distinguished speakers are 
expected, and interest in the occasion was never more 
deep and keen. 

+ + + 
I have not the slightest hope at this time of being 
able to say anything new. But no matter. It may be 
good for me to say and good for you to hear what has 
often been said, and as often heard before. We do not 
become weary with the countenance of a beloved friend, 
though we look upon it every day. Neither do we re- 
gard it as a waste of time to recall the familiar qual- 
ities of head and of heart which, in a friend no longer 
by our side, commanded our esteem and won our enthu- 
siastic devotion. To contemplate the nobleness of a 
noble man, helps to make that nobleness our own. The 
recognition of greatness is next in rank to the posses- 
sion of it. The things that really count in memory are 
the things of character. The ultimate standard of 
judgment among men is a moral one. Death clears off 
all adventitious and accidental details, clarifies vision 
and shows us the essential things in a man's life. When 
judgment is thus purified by the fact of death, our 
standard becomes not capacity but character. Reputa- 
tion takes on a moral coloring. Instinctively we feel 
that there is but one thing that really counts; other 
things drop off and disappear. Things take a different 

89 



90 

perspective. Some of the things that once counted 
most fall into the background, and the simple qualities 
of moral character stand in their natural precedence. 
The memory of a good man is blessed. The memory 
of a bad man is infamy. This is the rule of history and 
experience, though we may think we can point to ex- 
ceptions. Against this rule are the oft-quoted, classical 
lines which Shakespeare makes Anthony say of Julius 
Caesar, 

"The evil that men do, lives after them. 
The good is oft interred with their bones." 
We need to bear in mind that the great Dramatist puts 
these words into the mouth of a schemer, a man who is 
playing on the passions of the crowd. On the whole, 
the opposite of Anthony's words is true. The good of 
a man's life does not die; and certainly it is only for 
the good that we ever bless him. 

Great men there have been — admired, yet not be- 
loved. Great men there have been — beloved, yet not 
admired. Tonight we honor the memory of a great 
man who was admired and beloved — one in whom there 
was a wonderful blending of the strong and the gentle 
elements — the virility which commands esteem and the 
tenderness that evokes affection — the strength we ad- 
mire, and the simplicity we love. 

There are present this evening those far more 
competent than I to estimate his ability as a statesman, 
and to pass judgment upon his political achievements 
and his policies. As to these, there must necessarily 
be wide differences of opinion. About these, I am not 
greatly concerned tonight. The esteem and admira- 
tion of those who followed his leadership — convinced 
that the principles of which he was the representative 
exponent, were the truest and the safest for the nation 



91 

— were no more deep or sincere than those of the men 
who followed another standard under the conviction 
that his policies were mistaken and unsafe. But as to 
William McKinley, the man, there is but one opin- 
ion on the part of those whose judgment is en- 
titled to respect. That opinion is that he represented 
the most exalted type of American citizenship. Apart 
from his political career and achievements, apart from 
his association with the stirring and momentous events 
that made his administration memorable, whatever 
the future has to say of these things, this is certain, 
that the name of William McKinley shall shine in his- 
tory as it does today, as that of a man whose personal 
character was above reproach — who in all the relations 
of life, public and private, discharged his duty with un- 
faltering fidelity under the momentum of the purest 
and noblest motives that can animate the purpose or 
determine the action of a man ; and in the generations 
to come, his memory shall be an incentive to every 
true-hearted American youth to seek that nobility — 
that truest and realest nobility — that is at once the 
root and the fruit of earnest faith, strict integrity and 
honest endeavor. 

He was a patriot of the most high-minded — the 
pure hearted sort. He loved his country with a love 
that was enlightened, unselfish and sincere. He was a 
politician and a partisan, yet neither in any small, re- 
stricted or unworthy sense. In the minds of small 
men, politics has a small and contemptible meaning. 
With such, its chief significance is public office and the 
emoluments appertaining thereunto. With such, politi- 
cal life means a scramble for political spoils at what- 
ever cost of personal integrity and honor. With such, 
politics is one thing, and patriotism is another. They 



92 

have no vital relation. The principles worth fighting 
for and worth struggling for are the principles that 
will carry the party and win the plunder. No such 
narrow, selfish, contemptible conception of politics or 
of political life had he whose memory we this day 
honor and bless. Politician he was, but who can say 
that he ever prostituted politics into a means of per- 
sonal aggrandizement? Political offices he held from 
that of County Prosecuting Attorney to that of the 
nation's Chief Executive; but who has ventured to 
suggest that for any office he ever held, he was at any 
moment willing to compromise principle, or make his 
self-respect and conscience articles of barter and ex- 
change? He was as far above the small politicians to 
whom politics and spoils are synomyous terms as the 
eagle is above the bat. When he entered public life, 
he took his conscience with him ; and on that sad day 
when he fell under the assassin's bullet, his conscience 
was as clean and his self-respect as unimpaired as on 
the day he set forth. I am saying now what has been 
said again and again by those who were his political 
opponents, as well as by those who were his political 
friends and supporters. His whole career is, on the 
one hand, a noble object lesson, much needed by those 
who stand aloof from politics under the false impres- 
sion that to be interested in politics is to suffer personal 
contamination; and on the other hand, a salutary re- 
buke to those who regard political life as furnishing a 
suitable opportunity of furthering one's own selfish 
and mercenary interests. William McKinley fought 
his political battles under the impetus of the same pure 
patriotic motives, as those which sent him out, a mere 
stripling, to fight for the preservation of the Union. 
With him, patriotism and politics were one and the 



93 r 

same. Higher than all considerations of personal sue- \ 
cess — higher than any party in his esteem was the 
United States of America. He followed the banner of 
a great political party, because that party, in his judg- 
ment, represented principles that were best fitted to 
advance the nation's welfare. And the great need of 
the nation today is men of this type and breed; men 
who cherish his conceptions of the duties and responsi- 
bilities of citizenship ; men who can take a lively in- 
terest in political affairs, and from the dust and heat \ 
of political conflict come forth with hands clean and 
conscience unstained as his; men who in private life 
and public office command the esteem that belongs to 
those who bear a character above reproach. 

Honor, then, to him "who, though dead, yet 
speaketh" of a patriotism at once pure, noble and 
unselfish! Gratitude and loving remembrance to him 
whose example teaches youth and age alike, that devo- 
tion to country is duty to God, and that it is possible 
to go through the vicissitudes of a long public career, 
and close that career with a name untarnished and a 
personal character clean as the wings of a dove. v 

As the census taker counts men, the nation has men ' 
enough. What is needed is not more men, but more 
man. William McKinley was the right sort of poli- 
tician because primarily he was the right sort of man. 
We honor his memory not because his judgment was 
inerrant, not because he was incapable of making mis- 
takes, but because his motives were always pure ; not 
because we always had confidence in his opinions and 
policies, but because we had confidence in him. We 
honor him because he stood by his convictions, and 
because in utterance and in action, he honored truth 
as he was given to see it. We honor him because from 



94 

first to last his manhood was clean, strong, brave, 
resolute and self-reliant. To every trust he v^as un- 
faltering faithful. In the invincible consciousness of 
personal rectitude, he stood ever strong, with an eye 
that could look every man straight in the face — with 
a heart that scorned the brief-lived triumph won by 
trickery and by fraud — with a mind that labored out 
convictions consonant with justice and truth, and with 
a will to carry these convictions into practical oper- 
ation. 

"To achieve success and fame, you must pursue a 
special line," said President Hayes. "You must not 
make a speech on every motion offered or bill intro- 
duced. Confine yourself to one particular thing. Be- 
come a specialist. Take up some branch of legislation 
and master that. Why not take up the subject of 
tariff? That being a subject that will not be settled 
for years to come, it offers a great field for study and ^ 
a chance for ultimate fame." With these words of \ 
President Hayes ringing in his ears, William McKinley 
began studying the tariff, and in time became one of 
the foremost authorities on that complex subject; and 
that day in 1890 on which the McKinley Tariff Bill 
was passed in the House of Congress, must always 
stand as the supreme day of his congressional career. 
With even the salient features of that famous enact- 
ment, I may not deal just now. It is pertinent only 
to say that it was the concrete embodiment and expres- 
sion of the results of William McKinley's study and 
observation through years. It represented those prin- 
ciples which, in his judgment, as a painstaking and 
intelligent student, were essential to the nurture and 
development of those industries upon which the pros- 
perity of the Republic must be securely founded. That 



95 

bill was reviled, but the revilings were silenced by the 
hum of busy machinery. It was attacked and ridiculed 
by political opponents, but the w^orking man had em- 
ployment and his dinner pail was full. The people 
learned the true value of that Tariff legislation, when 
under an administration adverse to it, there came a 
period of industrial paralysis and depression that fell 
with special severity upon the great body of toilers of 
the country. Agriculture languished and labor suf- 
fered. Business conditions were most unpromising. 
Commercial confidence was shaken. The credit of the 
government and the integrity of its currency were 
threatened. Then the people, having learned the value 
of their blessings by the loss of them, lifted up their 
voice, and William McKinley was called to the most 
honorable and responsible position within the gift of 
any nation on the face of the earth — that of President 
of the United States. That was the people's thunder- 
ing "Amen" to the principles and policies embodied in 
the McKinley Bill. Then and there set in a tide of na- 
tional prosperity such as this country had never known. 
Confidence was restored. Business settled down to a 
normal, stable basis. Capital found opportunity for 
profitable investment in such enterprises as provided 
work, and labor found plenty to do at something more 
than a mere living wage. The Inaugural Address of 
President McKinley, as he entered upon his first term, 
is one of the most splendidly fearless and patriotic 
utterances ever delivered by a public servant. He 
realized profoundly the responsibility resting upon 
him. He knew how severely his principles and policies 
were to be put to the test. He was well aware of the 
abuses that would inevitably spring out of the success 
of these economic policies. He anticipated the very 



96 

conditions which confront the nation today. Sixteen 
years after their utterance these ringing words of his 
might have been spoken today: ''Immunity should be 
granted to none who violate the laws, whether indi- 
viduals, corporations or communities. As the Consti- 
tution imposes upon the President the duty of both its 
own execution and of the statutes enacted in pursuance 
of its provisions, I shall endeavor to carry them into 
effect. The declaration of the party now restored to 
power has been in the past, that of opposition to all 
combinations of capital organized in trusts or other- 
wise, to control arbitrarily the conditions of trade 
among our citizens ; and it has supported such legisla- 
tion as will prevent the execution of all schemes to 
oppress the people by undue charges on their supplies, 
or by unjust rates for the transportation of their 
products to the markets. This purpose will be steadily 
pursued, both by the enforcement of the laws now in 
existence, and the recommendation and support of 
such new laws as may be necessary to carry it into 
effect." These brave and honest words were his reply 
to the charge of his adversaries that his policies con- 
templated the advantage of the few rather than the 
many — the classes rather than the masses. They were 
not uttered in any spirit of bravado. Confident as he 
was in his theories of tariff, and in their power, when 
reduced to law, to restore national prosperity, he was 
determined that the benefits derived therefrom should 
be shared by all the people, and they were shared bj^ 
all the people, and the people knew that a high-minded 
patriot occupied the Presidential Chair, guarding their 
interests and legislating for their weal ; and when the 
time arrived once more for them to lift up their 
voice, there was another thunderous and unequivocal 



97 

"Amen," to the wise and beneficient achievements of 
himself and his administration. 

While his economic policies were working their 
wonders in the restoration of commercial confidence 
and industrial prosperity, the wisdom and statesman- 
ship of William McKinley were to be put to another 
test. At the very doors of the American Republic lay 
an island whose people were writhing under the curse 
of worse than mediaeval tyranny and misrule. The 
situation in Cuba had grown intolerable. It became 
obvious that if this nation would retain its own self- 
respect, it must step in and prevent further oppres- 
sion and cruelty. President McKinley addressed him- 
self to this unwonted duty. It is a long story, but a 
story most honorable to him of whom we speak. He 
realized the awful horrors of war, for he himself had 
been through it. He was loath to call his countrymen 
from the pursuits of peaceful industry to engage in 
the clash of arms. For this reluctance, he was derided 
by his foes, chided even by his friends. He possessed 
his soul in patience, and "endured as seeing Him who 
is invisible." Only when every pacific means failed did 
he put the bugle to his lips and sound the appeal to 
arms. Then followed what truly has been termed the 
"most righteous and brilliantly successful foreign war" 
that any country had ever waged. He who had fought 
his own country's battle— who had labored so zealously 
that his own countrymen might enjoy the blessings 
of industrial and commercial prosperity, now became 
leader in a campaign whose object was the permanent 
relief of the down-trodden and the oppressed. It was 
a war in behalf of humanity. It was the practical 
expression of that axiom of Christian ethics as it ap- 
plies to nations as well as to individuals, "Ye then 



98 

who are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the 
weak." It was a war in behalf of enlightened justice 
and liberty, as against mediaeval tyranny and oppres- 
sion. Whenever the Almighty has had need of some 
great outstanding character — some leader — some ruler 
or champion or martyr, He has never yet failed to 
raise up just the man to fill the bill. Every epoch of 
progress, every vital movement has its great man. 
This has been the law throughout the ages. The heat 
of an intense crisis seems to fuse common human clay 
into figures almost Godlike for the world to mar\'el at 
for all time. It was in the Providence of God that in 
the crisis to which the nation had come, she was 
represented in her highest seat of authority by a man 
of such absolute poise and sanity, such patience and 
love of peace, such appreciation of common justice and 
humanity, such purity of principle and motive, that, 
when the war was over, and Spanish oppression had 
been driven from Cuba and from the far off islands 
of the Pacific forever, even the adversary that had 
been crushed, ov/ned the magnanimity and humanity 
of the hand that had dealt the blow. The true states- 
man is more than a man who can manipulate social 
and political forces to the advantage of the nation. 
He is one who guides the currents of national life 
into the channels he builds out of institutions and 
laws, so that they go to swell the volume and the power 
of the world's life. He is endowed with the genius to 
see how the forces at work in his own age can be so 
directed and handled as to advance the interest of 
every human being. He is the man who can discern 
the things which are essential — pre-eminent — abso- 
lutely needful to be done, and then bend strong en- 
ergies to the achievement of them; or, to use Emer- 



99 
son's words, "with strength equal to the time, still 
wise to entertain and swift to execute the policy which 
the mind and heart of mankind require." He of whom 
we speak tonight met these qualifications in a signal 
manner. He was a statesman, a high-souled, pure- 
hearted patriot, 

"Who never sold the truth to save the hour, 
Nor paltered with Eternal God for power." 
William McKinley was beloved as well as es- 
teemed — beloved for his personal qualities as well as 
admired for those statesmanly qualities which fitted 
him in so pre-eminent a degree for the Presidential 
Chair. Like Abraham Lincoln in this respect, he was 
ever in close touch with the common people. He never 
lost his head nor became high and lifted up. He knew 
what it was to pass through the chilling waters of 
adversity. He experienced stint and loss and hardship, 
and these but brought him closer to the heart of the 
great toiling and suffering masses. There is nothing 
that embitters a people more than the sense that those 
who hold the reins of government, do not know what 
life is for a poor man. If they had ever done a week 
of hard physical toil, or had experienced the wearing 
anxietj^ for bread, they would speak in another 
tone. Government everywhere suffers through its 
lack of knowledge of what life means to the mass 
of the governed. Adversity is no flatterer; and 
whatever a man's endowment, it requires adversity 
to make him feel what things really are. "A 
prince without letters," says old Ben Johnson, "is 
a pilot without eyes. All his government is grop- 
ing." That is a phrase which describes a con- 
siderable part of the legislation of both political 
parties. It is groping, and one principal want is knowl- 



100 

edge; and not least of all, knowledge of what life is for 
the hard-driven and the poor. William McKinley was 
no self-constituted model of humility. He was no 
boastful champion of the poor man's cause, yet the 
toilers of the nation knew that he was their brother; 
and even when elevated to the highest and most honor- 
able position in the land, they knew and felt how every 
word and deed — his whole public and private deport- 
ment, asserted his community of interest with them 
rather than his separateness from them ; and the peo- 
ple — the common people, believed in him and loved 
him. 

He was a Christian man of the noblest type. I do 
not mention this as though it were incidental or sec- 
ondary. His religion influenced and dominated his 
whole life. It was not a matter of dogma or of ritual. 
It was a matter of life — every day Life. He was a 
Church member not because that was a respectable 
thing to be, but because he esteemed it a privilege to be 
identified with an institution that represented Chris- 
tianity in an organic form, and because he believed it 
the duty of every Christian man to avow his principles 
and show his colors. He was no more ashamed of his 
religion than he was of his politics. He never found 
his religion irksome or inconvenient. His home in 
Canton or in Washington was a Christian home. 
Towards his invalid wife, his attitude and deportment 
was that of a chivalrous knight. Wherever he was — 
in the quiet seclusion of his own home — among fa- 
miliar acquaintances and * neighbors, or among the 
statesmen — senators — secretaries and ambassadors of 
the national capital, he was ever the same true-hearted, 
honest, upright Christian gentleman. 



101 
How pathetic, beautiful — ay, how deeply signif- 
icant, the last hours of that noble career. It has be- 
come to us a familiar picture ; the man who had known 
all the joys, all the honors that could be given any 
man to know ; the man whose hand had held the helm 
of this great republic, and whose wisdom had guided 
her course through a time of grave crisis ; that man in 
whom centered so much of human love and admiration, 
now in his last hours of consciousness feebly chanting 
the old hymn that he had loved from childhood- 
through youth and through manhood — 

"Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to Thee, 
E'en tho' it be a cross that raiseth me. 
Still all my song shall be 
Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to Thee." 
and then breathing forth that prayer of all prayers— 
that prayer of all the ages, "Our Father which art in 
Heaven." No anxiety concerning himself in these last 
trying hours. His solicitude was only for others and 
especially for the tender woman who for so many 
years had been nearest and dearest to him, and for 
whom he had cared with such unceasing and chivalrous 
devotion. As he lived, so he died — the great man — 
the brave, honest man ; patriot, statesman. Christian. 

There is nothing the nation needs more than men 
of the stamp and quality of him of whom we speak. 
The nation is safe just so long as true manhood is 
placed above everything else. Integrity — honor — jus- 
tice and the fear of God, these are the foundation 
stones upon which we must build if we would build se- 
curely. Beware of the leader who, with genius, talent, 
and eloquence, is lacking in those deeper personal qual- 
ities which alone can make it safe to follow him. The 
need of the hour is not genius but manhood. Not men of 



102 

great talent but men of unquestionable integrity and 
irreproachable moral character. This is a great time 
in which to live, and every man of thought is bound, 
with wholesome courage to recognize its greatness- 
And just because it is a time of greatness it is a 
time of peril. The peril of the age is materialism. 
The materialism of pleasure by which he who is cap- 
tured by it, is made soft — effeminate — feebly self-in- 
dulgent. The materialism of business, destroying the 
symmetry of manhood by the abnormal growth of the 
commercial instinct — making a man to grow in adverse 
ratio to his success. The materialism of unbelief, rob- 
bing life of its potential heroism by destroying faith in 
the spiritual and the unseen — putting out the lamp and 
the altar fires within the sanctuary, and building up 
with dead masonry — eastward and westward — the win- 
dows through which our fathers looked out upon the 
face of God. There is nothing on earth that so di- 
minishes the size of character as the renunciation of 
faith's eternal and infinite aspirations. To resist these 
temptations and to stand forth as true men — honoring 
manhood above all gains or glories — above all adven- 
titious or accidental circumstances whatsoever, is the 
one supreme demand of the age; and this is the one 
supreme, cogent lesson that comes to us from the ca- 
reer of that great and splendid American whose mem- 
ory we honor. Over the door of every profession — of 
every occupation, there is this standing advertise- 
ment, "Wanted, men with conscience." . 

"Men whom the lust of office does not kill, \ 

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy, \ 

Men who possess opinions and a will, 
Men who have honor, men who will not lie. 



103 

Men who can stand before a demagogue 

And scorn his treacherous flatteries, without winking. 

Tall men, sun-crowned who live above the fog. 

In public duty and in private thinking." 

It was because William McKinley answered that 
description that tonight we honor ourselves by honor- 
ing his memory. It is because he was such a man that 
we bless God for the inspiration of which we are con- 
scious as we look back upon his life and recall his noble 
career; and because he was such a man, we are assured 
that he "though dead, yet speaketh." In all he was — 
in all he did — in all he put into the life of the nation 
he loved so truly and served so faithfully — in every 
conscious inspiration caught by us today from that 
complete and noble career, he lives and will ever live. 
His influence will still be felt here among us by every 
man who loves his country and strives for a more per- 
fect realization of all that is true and pure here on 
earth. 

"Such was he. His work is done. 
But while the races of mankind endure, 
Colossal — seen of every land. 
And keep the soldier firm, the statesman pure ; 
Let his great example stand — 
Till in all land and through all human story. 
The path of duty be the path to glory." 



+ + Hh 

TIPPECANOE CLUB 

Passing the Reviewing Stand at the Dedication of the 
McKinley Monument, Canton, Ohio 

+ 4* + 



MEMORIAL ADDRESS ON THE LIFE AND CHAR- 
ACTER OF WILLIAM McKINLEY 

Hon. John Hay 

This panegyric was delivered before the two Houses 
of Congress February 27th, 1902, in the Hall of the 
House of Representatives in the National Capitol. 
The President of the United States and his Cabinet, 
His Royal Highness, Prince Henry of Prussia, mem- 
bers of the diplomatic corps. Justices of the Supreme 
Court, governors of states and other distinguished 
guests were present. 

William P. Frye, President pro tempore of the Sen- 
ate, introduced the speaker. 

+ + Hh 
Once more, and for the third time, the Congress 
of the United States are assembled to commemorate 
the life and death of a President slain by the hand 
of an assassin. The attention of the future historian 
will be attracted to the features which re-appear with 
startling sameness in all three of these awful crimes : 
the uselessness, the utter lack of consequence of the 
act ; the obscurity, the insignificance of the criminal ; 
the blamelessness — so far as in our sphere of existence 
the best of men may be held blameless — of the victim. 
Not one of our murdered Presidents should have had 
an enemy in the world; they were all of such pre- 
eminent purity of life that no pretext could be given 
for the attack of passional crime ; they were all men of 
democratic instincts who could never have offended 
the most jealous advocates of equality; they were of 
kindly and generous nature, to whom wrong or in- 
justice was impossible; of moderate fortune, whose 
slender means nobody could envy. They were men of 
austere virtue, of tender heart, of eminent abilities, 

107 



108 

which they had devoted with single minds to the good 
of the RepubHc. If ever men walked before God and 
man without blame, it was these three rulers of our 
people. The only temptation to attack their lives of- 
fered was their gentle radiance; to eyes hating the 
light that was offense enough. 

The stupid uselessness of such an infamy af- 
fronts the common sense of the world. One can con- 
ceive how the death of a dictator may change the po- 
litical conditions of an empire ; how the extinction of 
a narrowing line of kings may bring in an alien dy- 
nasty. But in a well-ordered Republic like ours, the 
ruler may fall, but the state feels no tremor. Our 
beloved and revered leader is gone; but the natural 
process of our laws provides us a successor, identical 
in purpose and ideals, nourished by the same teach- 
ings, inspired by the same principles, pledged by 
tender affection as well as by high loyalty to carry to 
completion the immense task committed to his hands, 
and to smite with iron severity every manifestation of 
that hideous crime which his mild predecessor, with 
his dying breath, forgave. The sayings of celestial 
wisdom have no date; the words that reach us, over 
two thousand years, out of the darkest hour of gloom 
the world has ever known, are true to the life to-day ; 
"They know not what they do." The blow struck at 
our dear friend and ruler was as deadly as blind hate 
could make it; but the blow struck at anarchy was 
deadlier still. 

What a world of insoluble problems such an event 
excites in the mind! Not merely in its personal, but 
in its public aspects, it presents a paradox not to be 
comprehended. Under a system of government so 
free and so impartial that we recognize its existence 



109 
only by its benefactions; under a social order so pure- 
ly democratic that classes can not exist in it, affording 
opportunities so universal that even conditions are as 
changing as the winds, where the laborer of to-day 
is the capitalist of to-morrow; under laws which are 
the result of ages of evolution, so uniform and so 
beneficent that the President has just the same rights 
and privileges as the artisan, we see the same hellish 
growth of hatred and murder which dogs equally the 
footsteps of benevolent monarchs and blood-stained 
despots. 

How many centuries can join with us in the com- 
munity of a kindred sorrow ! I will not speak of those 
distant regions where assassination enters into the 
daily life of government. But among the nations 
bound to us by the ties of familiar intercourse— who 
can forget that wise and high-minded autocrat who 
had earned the proud title of the Liberator, that en- 
lightened and magnanimous citizen whom France 
still mourns, that brave and chivalrous King of Italy 
who only lived for his people, and, saddest of all, that 
lovely and sorrowing Empress whose harmless life 
could hardly have excited the animosity of a demon? 

Against that devilish spirit nothing avails neither 

virtue, nor patriotism, nor age nor youth, nor con- 
science nor pity. We can not even say that education 
is a sufficient safeguard against this baleful evil, for 
most of the wretches whose crimes have so shocked 
humanity in recent years are men not unlettered, who 
have gone from the common schools, through murder, 
to the scaffold. 

Our minds can not discern the origin nor conceive 
the extent of wickedness so perverse and so cruel ; but 



110 

this does not exempt us from the duty of trying to 
control and counteract it. We do not understand what 
electricity is ; whence it comes or what its hidden prop- 
erties may be. But we know it as a mighty force for 
good or evil — and so with the painful toil of years, 
men of learning and skill have labored to store and to 
subjugate it, to neutralize and even to employ its de- 
structive energies. This problem of anarchy is dark 
and intricate, but it ought to be within the compass of 
democratic government — although no sane mind can 
fathom the mysteries of these untracked and orbitless 
natures — to guard against their aberrations, to take 
away from them the hope of escape, the long luxury 
of scandalous daj^s in court, the unwholesome sympathy 
of hysterical degenerates, and so by degrees to make 
the crime not worth committing, even to these abnor- 
mal and distorted souls. 

It would be presumptuious for me in this presence 
to suggest the details of remedial legislation for a 
malady so malignant. That task may safely be left 
to the skill and patience of the national Congress, 
which have never been found unequal to any such 
emergency. The country believes that the memory of 
three murdered comrades of yours, all of whose voices 
still haunt these walls, will be a sufficient inspiration to 
enable you to solve even this abstruse and painful 
problem, which has dimmed so many pages of history 
with blood and with tears. 

Before an audience less sympathetic than this, I 
should not dare to speak of that great career which we 
have met to commemorate. But we are all his friends, 
and friends do not criticise each other's words about 
an open grave. I thank you for the honor you have 
done me in inviting me here, and not less for the kind 



Ill 

forbearance I know I shall have from you in my 
most inadequate efforts to speak of him worthily. 

The life of William McKinley was, from his birth 
to his death, typically American. There is no environ- 
ment, I should say, anywhere else in the world which 
could produce just such a character. He was born into 
that way of life which elsewhere is called the middle 
class, but which in this country is so nearly universal 
as to make of other classes an almost negligible quan- 
tity. He was neither rich nor poor, neither proud nor 
humble ; he knew no hunger he was not sure of satis- 
fying, no luxury which could enervate mind or body. 
His parents were sober. God-fearing people: intelli- 
gent and upright; without pretension and without 
humility. He grew up in the company of boys like 
himself— wholesome, honest, self-respecting. 

They looked down on nobody; they never felt it 
possible they could be looked down upon. Their 
houses were the homes of probity, piety, patriotism. 
They learned in the admirable school readers of fifty 
years ago the lessons of heroic and splendid life which 
have come down from the past. They read in their 
weekly newspapers the story of the world's progress, 
in which they were eager to take part, and of the sins 
and wrongs of civilization, with which they burned 
to do battle. It was a serious and thoughtful time. 
The boys of that day felt dimly, but deeply, that days 
of sharp struggle and high achievements were before 
them. They looked at life with the wondering yet 
resolute eyes of a young esquire in his vigil of arms. 
They felt a time was coming when to them should be 
addressed the stern admonition of the Apostle : "Quit 
you like men; be strong." 



112 

It is not easy to give to those of a later genera- 
tion any clear idea of that extraordinary spiritual 
awakening which passed over the country at the first 
red signal fires of the civil war. It was not our earli- 
est apocalypse ; a hundred years before the Nation had 
been revealed to itself, when after long discussion and 
much searching of heart the people of the colonies had 
resolved that to live without liberty was worse than 
to die, and had therefore wagered in the solemn game 
of war "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
honor." In a stress of heat and labor unutterable, the 
country had been hammered and welded together; but 
thereafter for nearly a century there had been nothing 
in our life to touch the innermost fountain of feeling 
and devotion. We had had rumors of wars — even 
wars we had had, not without sacrifices and glory — 
but nothing which went to the vital self-consciousness 
of the country, nothing which challenged the Nation's 
right to live. But in 1860 the Nation was going down 
into the Valley of Decision. The question which had 
been debated on thousands of platforms, which had 
been discussed in countless publications, which, 
thundered from innumerable pulpits, had caused in 
their congregations the bitter strife and dissension to 
which only cases of conscience can give rise, was 
everywhere pressing for solution. And not merely in 
the various channels of publicity was it alive and 
clamorous. About every fireside in the land, in the 
conversation of friends and neighbors, and, deeper 
still, in the secret of millions of human hearts, the 
battle of opinion was waging; and all men felt and 
saw — with more or less clearness— that an answer to 
the importunate question. Shall the Nation Live? was 



113 
due, and not to be denied. And I do not mean that in 
the North alone there was this austere wrestling with 
conscience. In the South as well, below all the effer- 
vescence and excitement of a people perhaps more 
given to eloquent speech than we were, there was the 
profound agony of question and answer, the sum- 
mons to decide whether honor and freedom did not call 
them to revolution and war. It is easy for partisan- 
ship to say that the one side was right and that the 
other was wrong. It is still easier for an indolent mag- 
nanimity to say that both were right. Perhaps in 
the wide view of ethics one is always right to follow 
his conscience, though it lead him to disaster and 
death. But history is inexorable. She takes no ac- 
count of sentiment and intention ; and in her cold and 
luminous eyes that side is right which fights in har- 
mony with the stars in their courses. The men are 
right through whose efforts and struggles the world 
is helped onward, and humanity moves to a higher level 
and a brighter day. 

The men who are living to-day and who were 
young in 1860 will never forget the glory and glamour 
that filled the earth and the sky when the long twilight 
of doubt and uncertainty was ending and the time of 
action had come. A speech by Abraham Lincoln was 
an event not only of high moral significance, but of 
far-reaching importance; the drilling of a militia 
company by Ellsworth attracted national attention; 
the fluttering of the flag in the clear sky drew tears 
from the eyes of young men. 

Patriotism, which had been a rhetorical expres- 
sion, became a passionate emotion, in which instinct, 
logic, and feeling were fused. The country was worth 
saving ; it could be saved only by fire ; no sacrifice was 



114 
too great; the young men of the country were ready 
for the sacrifice; come weal, come woe, they were 
ready. 

At seventeen years of age William McKinley heard 
this summons of his country. He was the sort of 
youth to whom a military life in ordinary times would 
possess no attractions. His nature was far different 
from that of the ordinary soldier. He had other dreams 
of life, its prizes and pleasures, than that of marches 
and battles. But to his mind there was no choice or 
question. The banner floating in the morning breeze 
was the beckoning gesture of his country. The thrill- 
ing notes of the trumpet called him — him and none 
other — into the ranks. His portrait in his first uni- 
form is familiar to you all — the short stocky figure ; the 
quiet, thoughtful face; the deep, dark eyes. It is the 
face of the lad who could not stay at home when he 
thought he was needed in the field. He was of the 
stuff of which good soldiers are made. Had he been 
ten years older he would have entered at the head of 
a company and come out at the head of a division. But 
he did what he could. He enlisted as a private; he 
learned to obey. His serious, sensible ways, his 
prompt, alert efficiency soon attracted the attention 
of his superiors. He was so faithful in little things 
they gave him more and more to do. He was untiring 
in camp and on the march ; swift, cool, and fearless in 
fight. He left the Army with field rank when the war 
ended, brevetted by President Lincoln for gallantry in 
battle. 

In coming years when men seek to draw the moral 
of our great Civil War nothing will seem to them so 
admirable in all the history of our two magnificent 
armies as the way in which the war came to a close. 



115 

When the Confederate army saw the time had come, 
they acknowledged the pitiless logic of facts, and 
ceased fighting. When the army of the Union saw it 
was no longer needed, without a murmur or question, 
making no terms, asking no return, in the flush of 
victory and fullness of might, it laid doM^n its arms 
and melted back into the mass of peaceful citizens. 
There is no event, since the Nation was born, M'hich 
has so proved its solid capacity for self-government. 
Both sections share equally in that crown of glory. 
They had held a debate of incomparable importance 
and had fought it out with equal energy. A conclu- 
sion had been reached — and it is to the everlasting 
honor of both sides that they each knew when the war 
was over, and the hour of a lasting peace had struck. 
We may admire the desperate daring of others who 
prefer annihilation to compromise, but the palm of 
common sense, and, I will say, of enlightened patriot- 
ism, belongs to the men like Grant and Lee, who knew 
when they had fought enough, for honor and for coun- 
try. 

William McKinley, one of that sensible million 
of men, gladly laid down his sword and betook him- 
self to his books. He quickly made up the time lost 
in soldiering. He attacked his Blackstone as he would 
have done a hostile intrenchment ; finding the range 
of a country law library too narrow, he went to the 
Albany Law School, where he worked energetically 
with brilliant success; was admitted to the bar and 
settled down to practice — a brevetted veteran of 
twenty-four — in the quiet town of Canton, now and 
henceforward forever famous as the scene of his life 
and his place of sepulture. Here many blessings 



116 

awaited him : high repute, professional success, and a 
domestic affection so pure, so devoted and stainless 
that future poets, seeking an ideal of Christian mar- 
riage, will find in it a theme worthy of their songs. 
This is a subject to which the lightest allusion seems 
profanation ; but it is impossible to speak of William 
McKinley without remembering that no truer, ten- 
derer knight to his chosen lady ever lived among mor- 
tal men. 

If to the spirits of the just made perfect is per- 
mitted the consciousness of earthly things, we may be 
sure that his faithful soul is now watching over that 
gentle sufferer who counts the long hours in their 
shattered home in the desolate splendor of his fame. 

A man possessing the qualities with which nature 
has endowed McKinley seeks political activity as nat- 
urally as a growing plant seeks light and air. A 
wholesome ambition; a rare power of making friends 
and keeping them; a faith, which may be called re- 
ligious, in his country and its institutions ; and, flowing 
from this, a belief that a man could do no nobler work 
than to serve such a country — these were the elements 
in his character that drew him irresistibly into public 
life. He had from the beginning a remarkable equip- 
ment, a manner of singular grace and charm, a voice 
of ringing quality and great carrying power — vast as 
were the crowds that gathered about him, he reached 
their utmost fringe without apparent effort. He had 
an extraordinary power of marshaling and presenting 
significant facts, so as to bring conviction to the aver- 
age mind. His range of reading was not wide; he 
read only what he might some day find useful, and 
w^hat he read his memory held like brass. Those who 
knew him well in those early days can never forget the 



117 

consummate skill and power with which he would 
select a few pointed facts, and blow upon blow, would 
hammer them into the attention of great assemblages 
in Ohio, as Jael drove the nail into the head of the 
Canaanite captain. He was not often impassioned ; he 
rarely resorted to the aid of wit or humor ; yet I never 
saw his equal in controlling and convincing a popular 
audience by sheer appeal to their reason and intelli- 
gence. He did not flatter or cajole them, but there 
was an implied compliment in the serious and sober 
tone in which he addressed them. He seemed one of 
them ; in heart and feeling he was one of them. Each 
workingman in a great crowd might say : "That is the ^ 
sort of man I would like to be, and under more favor- 
ing circumstances might have been." He had the di- 
vine gift of sympathy, which, though given only to 
the elect, makes all men their friends. 

So it came naturally about that in 1876 — the be- 'y 

ginning of the second century of the Republic — he 
began, by an election to Congress, his political 
career. Thereafter for fourteen years this Cham- 
ber was his home. I use the word advisedly. No- 
where in the world was he so in harmony with 
his environment as here; nowhere else did his mind 
work with such full consciousness of its powers. 
The air of debate was native to him ; here he drank \ 

delight of battle with his peers. In after days, 
when he drove by this stately pile, or when on rare 
occasions his duty called him here, he greeted his 
old haunts with the affectionate zest of a child of the 
house; during all the last ten years of his life, filled 
as they were with activity and glory, he never ceased 
to be homesick for this Hall. When he came to the 
Presidency there was not a day when his Congres- 



118 

sional service was not of use to him. Probably no 
other President has been in such full and cordial com- 
munion with Congress, if we may except Lincoln alone. 
1/ McKinley knew the legislative body thoroughly — its 
composition, its methods, its habits of thought. He 
had the profoundest respect for its authority and an 
inflexible belief in the ultimate rectitude of its judg- 
ments. Our history shows how surely an Executive 
courts disaster and ruin by assuming an attitude of 
hostility or distrust to the Legislature; and, on the 
other hand, McKinley's frank and sincere trust and 
confidence in Congress were repaid by prompt and 
loyal support and co-operation. During his entire 
term of office this mutual trust and regard — so essen- 
tial to the public welfare — was never shadowed by a 
single cloud. 

He was a Republican. He could not be anything 
else. A Union soldier grafted upon a Clay Whig, he 
necessarily believed in the "American system" — in 
protection to home industries ; in a strong, aggressive 
nationality; in a liberal construction of the Constitu- 
tion. What any self-reliant nation might rightly do, 
he felt this Nation had power to do, if required by the 
common welfare and not prohibited by our written 
charter. 

Following the natural bent of his mind, he de- 
voted himself to questions of finance and revenue, to 
the essentials of the national housekeeping. He took 
high rank in the House from the beginning. His 
readiness in debate, his mastery of every subject he 
handled, the bright and amiable light he shed about 
him, and above all the unfailing courtesy and good 
will with which he treated friend and foe alike — one 
of the surest signatures of a nature born to great 



119 
destinies — made his service in the House a pathway 
of unbroken success and brought him at last to the 
all-important post of chairman of Ways and Means 
and leader of the majority. Of the famous revenue 
act which, in that capacity, he framed and carried 
through Congress, it is not my purpose here and now 
to speak. The embers of the controversy in the midst 
of which that law had its troubled being are yet too 
warm to be handled on a day like this. I may only say 
that it was never sufficiently tested to prove the praises 
of its friends or the criticism of its opponents. After 
a brief existence it passed away, for a time, in the 
storm that swept the Republicans out of power. Mc- 
Kinley also passed through a brief zone of shadow, his 
Congressional district having been rearranged for 
that purpose by a hostile legislature. 

Someone has said it is easy to love our enemies; /^ 
they help us so much more than our friends. The peo- 
ple whose malevolent skill had turned McKinley out of 
Congress deserved well of him and of the Republic. 
Never was Nemesis more swift and energetic. The 
Republicans of Ohio w^ere saved the trouble of choos- 
ing a governor — the other side had chosen one for 
them. A year after McKinley left Congress he was 
made governor of Ohio, and two years later he was 
re-elected, each time by majorities unhoped for and 
overwhelming. He came to fill a space in the public 
eye which obscured a great portion of the field of 
vision. In two national conventions the Presidency 
seemed within his reach. But he had gone there in the 
interest of others and his honor forbade any dalliance 
with temptation. So his nay was nay — delivered with 
a tone and gesture there was no denying. His hour 
was not yet come. 



120 

There was, however, no long delay. He became, 
from year to year, the most prominent politician and 
orator in the country. Passionately devoted to the 
principles of his party, he was always ready to do 
anything, to go anywhere, to proclaim its ideas and 
to support its candidates. His face and his voice be- 
came familiar to millions of our people ; and wherever 
they were seen and heard, men became his partisans. 
His face was cast in a classic mold ; you see faces like 
it in antique marble in the galleries of the Vatican 
and in the portraits of the great cardinal-statesmen of 
Italy; his voice was the voice of the perfect orator — 
ringing, vibrating, tireless, persuading by its very 
sound, by its accent of sincere conviction. So prudent 
and so guarded were all his utterances, so lofty his 
courtesy, that he never embarrassed his friends, and 
never offended his opponents. For several months 
before the Republican National Convention met in 
1896, it was evident to all who had eyes to see that 
Mr. McKinley was the only probable candidate of his 
party. Other names were mentioned, of the highest 
rank in ability, character, and popularity; they were 
supported by powerful combinations; but the nomi- 
nation of McKinley as against the field was inevitable. 
The campaign he made will be always memorable 
in our political annals. He and his friends had thought 
that the issue for the year was the distinctive and 
historic difference between the two parties on the 
subject of the tariff. To this wager of battle the dis- 
cussions of the previous four years distinctly pointed. 
But no sooner had the two parties made their nomi- 
nations than it became evident that the opposing can- 
didate declined to accept the field of discussion chosen 
by the Republicans, and proposed to put forward as 



121 

the main issue the free and unlimited coinage of silver. 
McKinley at once accepted this challenge, and, taking 
the battle for protection as already won, went with 
energy into the discussion of the theories presented 
by his opponents. He had wisely concluded not to 
leave his home during the canvass, thus avoiding a 
proceeding which has always been of sinister augury 
in our politics ; but from the front porch of his modest 
house in Canton he daily addressed the delegations 
which came from every part of the country to greet 
him in a series of speeches so strong, so varied, so 
pertinent, so full of facts briefly set forth, of theories 
embodied in a single phrase, that they formed the 
hourly text for the other speakers of his party, and 
give probably the most convincing proof we have of 
his surprising fertility of resource and flexibility of 
mind. All this was done without anxiety or strain. I 
remember a day I spent with him during that busy 
summer. He had made nineteen speeches the day be- 
fore, that day he made many. But in the intervals of 
these addresses he sat in his study and talked, with 
nerves as quiet and a mind as free from care as if we 
had been spending a holiday at the seaside or among 
the hills. 

When he came to the Presidency he confronted a 
situation of the utmost difficulty, which might well 
have appalled a man of less serene and tranquil self- 
confidence. There had been a state of profound com- 
mercial and industrial depression, from which his 
friends had said his election would relieve the country. 
Our relations with the outside world left much to be 
desired. The feeling between the Northern and South- 
ern sections of the Union was lacking in the cordiality 
which was necessary to the welfare of both. Hawaii 



122 
had asked for annexation and had been rejected by the 
preceding Administration. There was a state of things 
in the Caribbean which could not permanently endure. 
Our neighbor's house was on fire, and there were grave 
doubts as to our rights and duties in the premises. A 
man either weak or rash, either irresolute or head- 
strong, might have brought ruin on himself and in- 
calculable harm to the country. 

Again I crave the pardon of those who differ with 
me, if, against all my intentions, I happen to say a 
word which may seem to them unbefitting the place 
and hour. But I am here to give the opinion which 
his friends entertained of President McKinley, of 
course claiming no immunity from criticism in what I 
shall say. I believe, then, that the verdict of history 
will be that he met all these grave questions with per- 
fect valor and incomparable ability ; that in grappling 
with them he rose to the full height of a great occasion, 
in a manner which redounded to the lasting benefit 
of the country and to his own immortal honor. 

The least desirable form of glory to a man of his 
habitual mood and temper — that of successful war — 
was nevertheless conferred upon him by uncontrollable 
events. He felt the conflict must come; he deplored 
its necessity; he strained almost to breaking his re- 
lations with his friends, in order, first, if it might be, 
to prevent and then to postpone it to the latest possible 
moment. But when the die was cast, he labored with 
the utmost energy and ardor, and with an intelligence 
in military matters which showed how much of the 
soldier still survived in the mature statesman to push 
forward the war to a decisive close. War was an 
anguish to him ; he wanted it short and conclusive. 
His merciful zeal communicated itself to his subordi- 



nates, and the war, so long dreaded, whose conse- 
quences were so momentous, ended in a hundred days. 

Mr. Stedman, the dean of our poets, has called 
him "Augmenter of the State." It is a noble title; if 
justly conferred, it ranks him among the few whose 
names may be placed definitely and forever in charge 
of the historic Muse. Under his rule Hawaii has come 
to us, and Tutuila; Porto Rico and the vast archipel- 
ago of the East. Cuba is free. Our position in the 
Caribbean is assured beyond the possibility of future 
question. The doctrine called by the name of Monroe, 
so long derided and denied by alien publicists, evokes 
now no challenge or contradiction when uttered to the 
world. It has become an international truism. Our 
sister Republics to the south of us are convinced that 
we desire only their peace and prosperity. Europe 
knows that we cherish no dreams but those of world- 
wide commerce, the benefit of which shall be to all 
nations. The state is augmented, but it threatens no 
nation under heaven. As to those regions which have 
come under the shadow of our flag, the possibility of 
their being damaged by such a change of circum- 
stances was in the view of McKinley a thing unthink- 
able. To believe that we could not administer them to 
their advantage was to turn infidel to our American 
faith of more than a hundred years. 

In dealing with foreign powers, he will take rank 
with the greatest of our diplomatists. It was a world 
of which he had little special knowledge before coming 
to the Presidency. But his marvelous adaptability 
was in nothing more remarkable than in the firm grasp 
he immediately displayed in international relations. 
In preparing for war and in the restoration of peace 
he was alike adroit, courteous, and far-sighted. When 



124 

a sudden emergency declared itself, as in China, in a 
state of things of which our history furnished no 
precedent and international law no safe and certain 
precept, he hesitated not a moment to take the course 
marked out for him by considerations of humanity and 
the national interests. Even while the legations were 
fighting for their lives against bands of infuriated 
fanatics, he decided that we were at peace with China ; 
and while that conclusion did not hinder him from 
taking the most energetic measures to rescue our im- 
periled citizens, it enabled him to maintain close and 
friendly relations with the wise and heroic viceroys 
of the South, whose resolute stand saved that ancient 
Empire from anarchy and spoliation. He disposed of 
every question as it arose with a promptness and 
clarity of vision that astonished his advisers, and he 
never had occasion to review a judgment or reverse 
a decision. 

By patience, by firmness, by sheer reasonableness, 
he improved our understanding with all the great 
powers of the world, and rightly gained the blessing 
which belongs to the peacemakers. 

But the achievements of the Nation in war and 
diplomacy are thrown in the shade by the vast eco- 
nomic developments which took place during Mr. Mc- 
Kinley's administration. Up to the time of his first 
election, the country was suffering from a long period 
of depression, the reasons of which I will not try to 
seek. But from the moment the ballots were counted 
that betokened his advent to power a great and mo- 
mentous movement in advance declared itself along 
all the lines of industry and commerce. In the very 
month of his inauguration steel rails began to be sold 
at eighteen dollars a ton — one of the most significant 



125 

facts of modern times. It meant that American in- 
dustries had adjusted themselves to the long depres- 
sion ; that through the power of the race to organize 
and combine, stimulated by the conditions then pre- 
vailing, and perhaps by the prospect of legislation 
favorable to industry, America had begun to undersell 
the rest of the world. The movement went on without 
ceasing. The President and his party kept the pledges 
of their platform and their canvass. The Dingley 
bill was speedily framed and set in operation. All 
industries responded to the new stimulus and Ameri- 
can trade set out on its new crusade, not to conquer 
the world, but to trade with it on terms advantageous 
to all concerned. 

I will not worry you with statistics; but one or 
two words seem necessary to show how the acts of 
McKinley as President kept pace with his professions 
as candidate. His four years of administration were 
costly; we carried on a war which, though brief, was 
expensive. Although we borrowed two hundred mil- 
lions and paid our own expenses, without asking for 
indemnity, the effective reduction of the debt now ex- 
ceeds the total of the war bonds. We pay six millions 
less in interest than we did before the war and no 
bond of the United States yields the holder two per 
cent on its market value. So much for the Govern- 
ment credit; and we have five hundred and forty-six 
millions of gross gold in the Treasury. 

But, coming to the development of our trade in 
the four McKinley years, we seem to be entering the 
realm of fable. In the last fiscal year our excess of 
exports over imports was six hundred and sixty-four 
million five hundred and ninety-two thousand eight 
hundred and twenty-six dollars. In the last four years 



126 

it was two billion three hundred and fifty-four million 
four hundred and forty-two thousand two hundred and 
thirteen dollars. These figures are so stupendous that 
they mean little to a careless reader — but consider! 
The excess of exports over imports for the whole pre- 
ceding period from 1790 to 1897 — from Washington to 
McKinley — was only three hundred and fifty-six mil- 
lion eight hundred and eight thousand eight hundred 
and twenty-two dollars. 

The most extravagant promises made by the san- 
guine McKinley advocates five years ago are left out of 
sight by these sober facts. The "debtor Nation" has 
become the chief creditor Nation. The financial center 
of the world, which required thousands of years to 
journey from Euphrates to the Thames and the Seine, 
seems passing to the Hudson between daybreak and 
dark. 

I will not waste your time by explaining that I 
do not invoke for any man the credit of this vast re- 
sult. The captain cannot claim that it is he who drives 
the mighty steamship over the tumbling billows of the 
trackless deep; but praise is justly due him if he has 
made the best of her tremendous powers, if he has 
read aright the currents of the sea and the lessons of 
the stars. And we should be ungrateful if in this 
hour of prodigious prosperity we should fail to re- 
member that William McKinley with sublime faith 
foresaw it, with indomitable courage labored for it, 
put his whole heart and mind into the work of bring- 
ing it about ; that it was his voice which, in dark hours, 
rang out, heralding the coming light, as over the twi- 
light waters of the Nile the mystic cry of Memnon an- 
nounced the dawn to Egypt, waking from sleep. 



127 

Among the most agreeable incidents of the Presi- 
dent's term of office were the two journeys he made 
to the South. The moral reunion of the sections — so 
long and so ardently desired by him — had been initi- 
ated by the Spanish War, when the veterans of both 
sides, and their sons, had marched shoulder to shoulder 
together under the same banner. The President in 
these journeys sought, with more than usual eloquence 
and pathos, to create a sentiment which should end 
forever the ancient feud. He was too good a politician 
to expect any results in the way of votes in his favor, 
and he accomplished none. But for all that the good 
seed did not fall on barren ground. In the warm and 
chivalrous hearts of that generous people, the echo of 
his cordial and brotherly words will linger long, and 
his name will be cherished in many a household where 
even yet the Lost Cause is worshipped. 

Mr. McKinley was re-elected by an overwhelming 
majority. There had been little doubt of the result 
among well-informed people; but when it was known, 
a profound feeling of relief and renewal of trust were 
evident among the leaders of capital and of industry, 
not only in this country, but everywhere. They felt 
that the immediate future was secure, and that trade 
and commerce might safely push forward in every 
field of effort and enterprise. He inspired universal 
confidence, which is the lifeblood of the commercial 
system of the world. It began frequently to be said 
that such a state of things ought to continue ; one after 
another, men of prominence said that the President 
was his own best successor. He paid little attention 
to these suggestions until they were repeated by some 
of his nearest friends. Then he saw that one of the 
most cherished traditions of our public life was in 



128 

danger. The generation which has seen the prophecy 
of the Papal throne — Non videbis annos Petri — twice 
contradicted by the longevity of holy men was in peril 
of forgetting the unwritten law of our Republic : Thou 
shalt not exceed the years of Washington. The Presi- 
dent saw it was time to speak, and in his character- 
istic manner he spoke, briefly, but enough. Where the 
lightning strikes there is no need of iteration. From 
that hour, no one dreamed of doubting his purpose of 
retiring at the end of his second term, and it will be 
long before another such lesson is required. 

He felt that the harvest time was come, to garner 
in the fruits of so much planting and culture, and he 
was determined that nothing he might do or say should 
be liable to the reproach of a personal interest. Let 
us say frankly he was a party man; he believed the 
policies advocated by him and his friends counted for 
much in the country's progress and prosperity. He 
hoped in his second term to accomplish substantial 
results in the development and affirmation of those 
policies. I spent a day with him shortly before he 
started on his fateful journey to Buffalo. Never had 
I seen him higher in hope and patriotic confidence. He 
was as sure of the future of his country as the Psalmist 
who cried : "Glorious things are spoken of thee, thou 
City of God." He was gratified to the heart that we 
had arranged a treaty which gave us a free hand in 
the Isthmus. In fancy he saw the canal already built 
and the argosies of the world passing through it in 
peace and amity. He saw in the immense evolution 
of American trade the fulfillment of all his dreams, 
the reward of all his labors. He was — I need not say 
— an ardent protectionist, never more sincere and de- 
voted than during those last days of his life. He re- 



129 
garded reciprocity as the bulwark of protection — not 
a breach, but a fulfillment of the law. The treaties 
which for four years had been preparing under his 
personal supervision he regarded as ancillary to the 
general scheme. He was opposed to any revolutionary 
plan of change in the existing legislation ; he was care- 
ful to point out that everything he had done was in 
faithful compliance with the law itself. 

In that mood of high hope, of generous expecta- 
tion, he went to Buffalo, and there, on the threshold 
of eternity, he delivered that memorable speech, 
worthy for its loftiness of tone, its blameless morality, 
its breadth of view, to be regarded as his testament 
to the Nation. Through all his pride of country and 
his joy in its success, runs the note of solemn warning, 
as in Kipling's noble hymn: "Lest we forget." 

"Our capacity to produce has developed so enor- 
mously and our products have so multiplied that the 
problem of more markets requires our urgent and im- 
mediate attention. Only a broad and enlightened 
policy will keep what we have. No other policy will 
get more. In these times of marvelous business energy 
and gain we ought to be looking to the future, 
strengthening the weak places in our industrial and 
commercial systems, that we may be ready for any 
storm or strain. 

"By sensible trade arrangements which will not 
interrupt our home production we shall extend the 
outlets for our increasing surplus. A system which 
provides a mutual exchange of commodities is mani- 
festly essential to the continued and healthful growth 
of our export trade. We must not repose in fancied 
security that we can forever sell everything and buy 
little or nothing. If such a thing were possible, it 



130 

would not be best for us for those with whom we deal. 
* * * Reciprocity is the natural outgrowth of our 
wonderful industrial development under the domestic 
policy now firmly established. * * * The period 
of exclusiveness is past. The expansion of our trade 
and commerce is the pressing problem. Commercial 
wars are unprofitable. A policy of good will and 
friendly trade relations will prevent reprisals. Reci- 
procity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of the 
times ; measures of retaliation are not." 

I wish I had time to read the whole of this wise 
and weighty speech; nothing I might say could give 
such a picture of the President's mind and character. 
His years of apprenticeship had been served. He stood 
that day past master of the art of statesmanship. He 
had nothing more to ask of the people. He owed them 
nothing but truth and faithful service. His mind and 
heart were purged of the temptations which beset all 
men engaged in the struggle to survive. In view of 
the revelation of his nature vouchsafed to us that day, 
and the fate which impended over him, we can only 
say in deep affection and solemn awe: "Blessed are 
the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Even for 
that vision he was not unworthy. 

He had not long to wait. The next day sped the 
bolt of doom, and for a week after — in an agony of 
dread broken by illusive glimpses of hope that our 
prayers might be answered — the Nation waited for 
the end. Nothing in the glorious life that we saw 
gradually waning was more admirable and exemplary 
than its close. The gentle humanity of his words, 
when he saw his assailant in danger of summary 
vengeance : "Don't let them hurt him" ; his chivalrous 
care that the news should be broken gently to his wife; 



131 

the fine courtesy with which he apologized for the 
damage which his death would bring to the great ex- 
hibition ; and the heroic resignation of his final words : 
"It is God's way. His will, not ours, be done" — were 
all the instinctive expressions of a nature so lofty and 
so pure that pride in its nobility at once softened and 
enhanced the Nation's sense of loss. The Republic 
grieved over such a son, but is proud forever of having 
produced him. After all, in spite of its tragic ending, 
his life was extraordinarily happy. He had, all his 
days, troops of friends, the cheer of fame and fruitful 
labor; and he became at last — 

"On fortune's crowning slope. 
The pillar of a people's hope, 
The center of a world's desire." 

He was fortunate even in his untimely death, for 
an event so tragical called the world imperatively to 
the immediate study of his life and character, and thus 
anticipated the sure praises of posterity. 

Every young and growing people has to meet, at 
moments, the problems of its destiny. Whether the 
question comes, as in Thebes, from a sphinx, symbol 
of the hostile forces of omnipotent nature, who pun- 
ishes with instant death our failure to understand her 
meaning; or whether it comes, as in Jerusalem, from 
the Lord of Hosts, who commands the building of His 
temple, it comes always with the warning that the 
past is past, and experience vain. "Your fathers, 
where are they? and the prophets, do they live for- 
ever?" The fathers are dead; the prophets are silent; 
the questions are new, and have no answer but in time. 

When the horny outside case which protects the 
infancy of a chrysalis nation suddenly bursts, and, in 
a single abrupt shock, it finds itself floating on wings 



132 

which had not existed before, whose strength it has 
never tested, among dangers it can not foresee and is 
without experience to measure, every motion is a prob- 
lem, and every hesitation may be an error. The past 
gives no clue to the future. The fathers, where are 
they? and the prophets, do they live forever? We are 
ourselves the fathers ! We are ourselves the prophets ! 
The questions that are put to us we must answer with- 
out delay, without help — for the Sphinx allows no one 
to pass. 

At such moments we may be humbly grateful to 
have had leaders simple in mind, clear in vision — as 
far as human vision can safely extend — penetrating in 
knowledge of men, supple and flexible under the 
strains and pressures of society, instinct with the 
energy of new life and untried strength, cautious, 
calm, and, above all, gifted in a supreme degree with 
the most surely victorious of all political virtues — the 
genius of infinite patience. 

The obvious elements which enter into the fame 
of a public man are few and by no means recondite. 
The man who fills a great station in a period of change, 
who leads his country successfully through a time of 
crisis, who, by his power of persuading and control- 
ling others, has been able to command the best thought 
of his age, so as to leave his country in a moral or 
material condition in advance of where he found it — 
such a man's position in history is secure. If, in ad- 
dition to this, his written or spoken words possess the 
subtle quality which carry them far and lodge them in 
men's hearts ; and, more than all, if his utterances and 
actions, while informed with a lofty morality, are yet 
tinged with the glow of human sympathy, the fame 
of such a man will shine like a beacon through the 



1 oo 

loo 
mists of ages — an object of reverence, of imitation, 
and of love. It should be to us an occasion of solemn 
pride that in the three great crises of our history such 
a man was not denied us. The moral value to a nation 
of a renown such a Washington's and Lincoln's and 
McKinley's is beyond all computation. No loftier ideal 
can be held up to the emulation of ingenuous youth. 
With such examples we cannot be wholly ignoble. 
Grateful as we may be for what they did, let us be 
still more grateful for what they were. While our 
daily being, our public policies, still feel the influence 
of their work, let us pray that in our spirits their 
lives may be voluble, calling us upward and onward. 
There is not one of us but feels prouder of his 
native land because the august figure of Washington 
presided over its beginnings; no one but vows it a 
tenderer love because Lincoln poured out his blood 
for it ; no one but must feel his devotion for his coun- 
try renewed and kindled when he remembers how Mc- 
Kinley loved, revered, and served it, showed in his life 
how a citizen should live, and in his last hour taught 
us how a gentleman could die. 



PROCEEDINGS 

of the 

SENATE and ASSEMBLY 

of the 

STATE OF NEW YORK 

on the 

Life, Character and Public Services 

of 

WILLIAM Mckinley 

+ 4* + 

March 4, 1902 

+ + + 

Albany, New York 



JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE LEGISLATURE 

+ + + 

Committee of the Senate 

Timothy E. Ellsworth John Raines 

Thomas F. Grady 

+ + + 

Comfnittee of the Assembly 

Jotham p. Allds Otto Kelsey 

Louis Bedell George M. Palmer 

John McKeown 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE 

of the 

STATE OF NEW YORK 

relative to the Life and Services 

of 

WILLIAM Mckinley 
+ + + 

Born January 29, 1843 
Died September 14, 1901 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE 
+ + + 
In Senate, January 9, 1902 
Mr. Ellsworth, Temporary President, offered the 
following resolution: 

Resolved (if the Assembly concur) , That a joint 
committee of the Legislature be appointed, to consist 
of three Senators, to be appointed by the President 
of the Senate, and five members of the Assembly, to 
be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, to ar- 
range for and conduct suitable memorial exercises by 
which the Legislature may express its appreciation of 
the statesmanship and virtues of William McKinley, 
late President of the United States of America, who 
was assassinated at the city of Buffalo, in this State, 
in the month of September last ; its abhorrence of the 
crime and its sympathy for his bereaved family. 

The President put the question whether the Sen- 
ate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided 
in the affirmative. 

Ordered, That the clerk deliver said resolution to 
the Assembly and request their concurrence therein. 
The Assembly subsequently returned the concur- 
rent resolution with a message that 

Mr. Speaker put the question whether the House 
would agree to said resolution, and it was determined 
in the affirmative. 

Ordered, That the Clerk return said resolution to 
the Senate, with a message that the Assembly have 
concurred in the passage of the same. 

The President appointed as the committee on the 

139 



140 

part of the Senate to act with the committee on the 
part of the Assembly to arrange memorial exercises 
in appreciation of the statesmanship and virtues of 
William McKinley, Messrs. Ellsworth, Raines and 
Grady. 

Mr. Speaker appointed as such committee, on the 
part of the Assembly, Messrs. Allds, Kelsey, Bedell, 
Palmer and McKeown. 

At a meeting of the above joint committee it was 
decided to hold a memorial service in the Assembly 
Chamber on Tuesday evening, March 4, 1902, and that 
Hon. Charles Emory Smith be invited by the com- 
mittee to deliver the memorial address. 
In Senate, January 29, 1902. 

Mr. Green made the following motion : 

Mr. President : Today is the birthday of the late 
lamented President of the United States, William Mc- 
Kinley, a day set aside in many places for the closing 
of the schools and doing honor and paying homage to 
the memory of one of the greatest if not indeed the 
greatest statesman of his age. It occurs to me that 
it is highly proper that the Senate of the State of 
New York should take some action in commemoration 
of the day and in memory of William McKinley, and 
therefore I move that this Senate do now adjourn out 
of respect to the memory of William McKinley and 
in commemoration of his birthday. 

Senator Grady : If the Senator will withdraw his 
motion for a moment and allow me to say, and in say- 
ing it I endeavor to express what I know to be the 
sentiments of my associates upon this side of the 
chamber, that there is no mark of admiration, there 
is no token of respect that can be paid to the memory 
and to the services of William McKinley which we are 



141 
not prepared to sincerely and cheerfully accord. When 
one sacrifices his life for his country, when one is 
stricken down by the hand of an assassin because he 
is the representative of authority against which an- 
archy and redhanded socialism raises its hand, he 
leaves the rank of official and statesman, and even 
patriot, and takes his place among the heroes. And so 
we regard the dead President, not so much as one who 
in a long and varied public career won the affections 
and confidence and the respect of his political friends 
and the admiration of his political foes, not so much 
for the qualities of statesmanship that he exhibited, 
but in common with all the rest— those of us who 
differed as to his policy, perhaps arrayed ourselves in 
opposition to his methods of government — today we 
turn our eyes to his place in the gallery of heroes as 
one who sacrificed his life in vindication of the law 
and the majesty of the law, and upon each anniversary 
of his birth, and very much oftener, let us hope, a 
grateful people of this Nation will remember every 
service of William McKinley and hold him, as they do 
now, without regard to political affiliation, in their 
heart of hearts. 

The President: The question is on the adoption 
of the motion of the Senator from the Thirty-Eighth, 
that the Senate do now adjourn out of respect to the 
memory of the late President, William McKinley. 
Those in favor of the adoption of that motion will 
please rise. 

It is unanimously adopted. The Senate is now ad- 
journed until tomorrow morning at eleven o'clock. 
In Assembly, January 29, 1902. 

Mr. Allds offered for the consideration of the 
House a resolution, in the words following: 



142 

Resolved, That the House do now adjourn as a 
testimonial of our respect and esteem to the memory 
of the late President, William McKinley, who was 
born fifty-nine years ago today. 

Mr. Allds said : Fifty-nine years ago, on this day, 
occurred an event which at that time was unnoticed. 
It marked the commencement of a life which has oc- 
cupied the central part of the national stage during 
these last years. I regard that it was extremely fit- 
ting, Mr. Speaker, that this Legislature should last 
week have made suitable arrangements which look 
toward a commemorative service over the memory of 
William McKinley. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I do not 
regard that at this time I ought to give utterance to 
words which naturally would be fit to this occasion. 
But it seemed, Mr. Speaker, inasmuch as throughout 
the length and breadth of the State of New York there 
are gathered in every school house our school children, 
today, engaged in exercises which remind them of the 
services rendered by our late lamented President ; inas- 
much as throughout the United States the day of his 
birth is today being commemorated, and that the Gov- 
ernor has issued a proclamation in this State, I did 
not regard that it would be fitting that we should close 
the morning's session without being mindful of the 
fact that this day did mark the birthday of William 
McKinley, and that when we separated this morning 
it should be by a rising vote of adjournment as a testi- 
monial of our respect and of our remembrance for that 
man who, starting from the common people, rose step 
by step, until, when, unfortunately, within this state, 
his life went out, he was beyond any question the best 
beloved citizen of this entire country, no matter what 
one's politics might be, no matter where one might 



143 

live or dwell, for he was of the common people, a man 
throughout his entire career laboring for the common 
people, and when he did finally reach the Presidential 
chair, a true American laboring for Americans, in such 
a way that he commanded the respect and compelled 
the respect for this country from all sister nations, 
the world around. 

Mr. Palmer: Mr. Speaker, a person who by an 
assassin's bullet has compassed the taking of an 
American life, whether he be a private citizen or a 
public personage, aims a blow not only at the heart of 
an individual citizen, but aims a deadly blow as well 
at the heart of our common and beloved country. And, 
sir, there comes a time in the history of nations and 
the history of men when the invisible line which seems 
to divide us — we call it sometimes politics and political 
thought — when that invisible line is entirely wiped 
out; and when an American citizen who loves his 
country and who loves its institutions, will rally to 
the support of its principles and to the support of 
those men who maintain those principles. And when 
a man dare stand out and direct a bullet at the head 
of our common country, it brings us all together as 
common mourners around a common bier. This is 
where we stood a few months ago. This is where we 
stand today again, in memory, and this is where we 
will stand so long as any incident shall occur during 
our memory and the memory of those who shall follow 
us, that shall bring us back to a time when the Presi- 
dent of the United States, William McKinley, was 
shot dead at Buffalo by the hand of an assassin. I 
say, then, that this is a question that appeals to the 
bosom of Americans ; this is a question which appeals 
to our love, our sympathy; this is a question which 



144 

not only enters the individual breast but appeals to 
the fireside and home of every one about this circle, 
and when we appeal to the home we appeal to the 
strength of our American institutions today. True, it 
has been said that this man represents every citizen 
of our common country. He came through the walks 
known as the common walks of life ; when danger was 
threatened he, in connection with others, stood at the 
battle front and bared his breast to danger, that our 
flag might still float and that our institutions might 
live ; and after the test and when history was being 
written, history that we fondly love, this man emerged 
from the conflict and was chosen by a majority of the 
American people, whose homes, whose property inter- 
ests he had so nobly protected upon the field of battle 
and by choice was elected to be the chief officer of 
this country, which he had helped to save, and in this 
dignified position looking all along back through the 
pathway over which he had trod, and seeing friends 
and neighbors all along that pathway, an assassin, a 
man who has no property stake in this country, a pro- 
letarian with no interest in common with ours, aimed 
a bullet not only at the heart of this distinguished 
citizen, but at the heart of our common country, and 
assaulted our institutions ; and today as legislators we 
are looking all over the land as best we can to ex- 
terminate that element from our midst. This repre- 
sentative who went down to death at the hands of our 
enemies, we should commemorate on every occasion 
that is befitting for such commemoration. I, there- 
fore, Mr. Speaker, voicing my own sentiment, and 1 
know I voice the sentiment of the majority around 
this circle, will second the resolution which has been 
offered. 



145 

Mr. Speaker: Gentlemen, you have heard the 
motion which has been so eloquently made by the 
gentlemen from Chenango, and so emphatically en- 
dorsed by the gentlemen from Schoharie, that now, as 
an evidence of the respect and esteem in which we 
hold the memory of the late lamented President, that 
this body do now adjourn, and that the vote upon that 
motion be taken by a rising vote. 

Mr. Speaker put the question whether the House 
would agree to said resolution, and it was determined 
in the affirmative by a rising vote. 

Whereupon the House adjourned. 
+ + + 



MEMORIAL EXERCISES 

4* •!" + 

Assembly Chamber, March 4, 1902. 

The Legislature having met in joint session in the 
Assembly Chamber in pursuance of the arrangements 
made by the joint memorial committee, Benjamen B. 
Odell, Jr., Governor; Hon. Thomas C. Piatt and Hon. 
Chauncey M. Depew, United States Senators, and 
State officers and guests being present, the meeting 
was called to order by the Hon. Timothy E. Ellsworth, 
chairman of the joint committee. 

The quartet and chorus of All Saints Choir sang 

"Blest Are The Departed," from Spohr's "The Last 

Judgment." 

Blest are the departed who in the Lord are sleeping, 
From henceforth, forever more: 

They rest from their labors, and their works follow 
them. 

Prayer was offered by Rt. Rev. William Croswell 

Doane, Bishop of Albany, as follows : 

Prayer by Rt. Rev. William Croswell Doane : 

Almighty and ever-living God, we yield unto Thee 

most high praise and hearty thanks for the wonderful 

grace and virtue declared in all Thy saints who have 

been the choice vessels of Thy grace and the lights of 

the world in their several generations. We bless Thy 

name for the good memory and holy example of Thy 

servant, William McKinley, to whom Thou didst give 

grace to live well and to rule well over this people, 

and grace to die in Thy faith and fear and in Thy 

favor,. Make us patient before the mystery of his 

violent death. Pardon whatever evil in us may have 

146 



147 
wrought out the humiliation of its dishonor. Save us 
from the spirit of disorder and misrule; from the 
carelessness of the tongue in evil speaking, reviling 
and slandering. Convict us of the sins of our pros- 
perity, our pride, our boastfulnes, our forgetfulness 
of Thee. Protect us from the spread of license instead 
of liberty. Convert us to a deeper recognition of Thy 
authority in those who rule over us that we may 
"faithfully and obediently honor them in Thee and for 
Thee" ; and make them mindful whose authority they 
bear. Make lignt perpetual to shine upon the soul of 
Thy servant whom Thou didst call so suddenly to his 
rest. Comfort the sorrow of those who were so sorely 
stricken in the bereavement of his death. Guide with 
Thy counsel and govern by Thy grace Thy servant 
Theodore Roosevelt, so suddenly called to the responsi- 
bility of ruling. Make this great nation a wise and 
understanding people, that we may fear Thee and keep 
all Thy commandments always, that it may be well 
with us and with our children forever, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen! 

The hymn, "Lead, Kindly Light," was sung by the 
choir of All Saints Church. 

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, 

Lead Thou me on! 
The night is dark, and I am far from home, 

Lead Thou me on! 
Keep Thou my feet ! I do not ask to see 
The distant scene ; one step enough for me. 

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou 

Shouldst lead me on; 
I loved to choose and see my path ; but now 

Lead Thou me on! 
I loved the garish day ; and, spite of fears, 
Pride ruled my will : remember not past years. 



148 

So long Thy power has blest me, sure it still 

Will lead me on 
O'er moor and fen, o'er craig and torrent, till 

The night is gone; 
And with the morn those angel faces smile, 
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. 

Senator Ellsworth said: Pursuant to a joint 
resolution of the Senate and Assembly, the members 
of the Senate and Assembly and their invited guests 
have convened in this Chamber to take suitable action 
in memory of the statesmanship and virtues of Wil- 
liam McKinley, late President of these United States, 
and on behalf of the committee I present as your pre- 
siding officer Governor Benjamin B. Odell, Jr. 

Remarks of the Presiding Officer. 

Governor Odell, upon taking the chair, said : 
Ladies and Gentlemen: 

We meet tonight to pay our tribute of respect to 
the memory of a man who in his life illustrated the 
possibilities of American manhood, to one who has by 
his devotion upon the field of battle and in the halls 
of our National Legislature, as well as in the highest 
office within the gift of our people, won the respect 
and admiration of the world. The patriotic manner 
in which he met every question and every new respon- 
sibility that he was called upon to assume, marked 
him as a man of fearless character, whose devotion 
to his country was only measured by her needs. 
Springing, as is so often the case, from humble parent- 
age, struggling with the vicissitudes and hardships of 
life, with indomitable courage he carved out for him- 
self a name that will be long remembered and inscribed 
upon the tablets of fame with other great Americans 
who had preceded him. 



149 

Meeting his fate because in his person he typified 
the institutions which our forefathers had established, 
he passed from the active theatre of hfe with a faith 
and a fortitude which illustrated far better than words 
his belief in an Omnipotent Power. Dying, his deeds 
still live, and the evolution of government which has 
marked the successive generations of men still goes 
on and our country becomes stronger because of such 
lives and of such influences as characterized that of 
William McKinley, for the love and freedom and the 
ability to organize liberty into institutions is a fea- 
ture which makes of America, of our country a stable 
government that can withstand the shock of arms and 
the blows of anarchy. America and her institutions 
are a protest against all those who have and who do 
oppose freedom, and the patriotism of her youth is 
the guarantee of her future. While, therefore, we 
mourn our loss, death has not robbed us of the in- 
fluences which those who have labored for our country 
have left behind them as the heritage to our people. 

We are fortunate to have with us one whose 
privilege it was to have been associated with our 
martyred President during his lifetime, who has kindly 
consented to address you, and because of his old asso- 
ciations within our State, to speak for us as we lay 
upon the bier the flower of grateful recollection for 
one who is now but a memory. I take great pleasure 
in introducing to you the Hon. Charles Emory Smith, 
the orator of the evening. 

The Hon. Charles Emory Smith then delivered 
the memorial address. 

The choir then sang 'The Radiant Morn," by 
Woodward. 



150 

The radiant morn hath passed away, 
And spent too soon her golden store ; 

The shadows of departing day 
Creep on once more. 

Our life is but a fading dawn, 

Its glorious noon, how quickly past; 

Lead us, O Christ, our life-work done, 
Safe home at last. 

Where saints are clothed in spotless white. 
And evening shadows never fall, 

Where Thou, eternal Light of Light, 
Art Lord of all. 

After which Rt. Rev. T. M. A. Burke, Bishop of 
the Diocese of Albany, pronounced the following bene- 
diction : 

Prayer by Rt. Rev. T. M. A. Burke. 

Almighty and Eternal God, Thou hast taught 
us by the Royal Psalmist "Unless the Lord build the 
house, they, labor in vain that build it. Unless the 
Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth 
it." Hence we acknowledge that it is only by Thy 
blessing that individuals and nations can prosper and 
be happy. We beseech Thee, therefore, O Lord, to 
bless our Nation, to bless our State, and in a special 
in these solemn services in honor of our late lamented 
President. 

May the blessing of God the Father, the Son, and 
the Holy Ghost descend upon all of us here present 
and remain with us forever. Amen. 

Recessional : "Nearer, My God, to Thee," by the 
choir: 



151 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee, 

E'en though it be a cross, 
That raiseth me; 

Still all my song shall be, 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 



Though like a wanderer. 
Weary and lone. 

Darkness comes over me. 
My rest a stone; 

Yet in my dreams I'd be 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee, 



There let my way appear 
Steps unto heaven; 

All that Thou sendest me 
In mercy given; 

Angels to beckon me 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 



Then with my waking thoughts 
Bright with Thy praise, 

Out of my stony griefs 
Altars I'll raise; 

So by my woes to be 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 



Or if on joyful wing, 
Cleaving the sky, 

Sun, moon, and stars forgot, 
Upward I fly, 

Still all my song shall be 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 



McKINLEY MEMORIAL ADDRESS 

Charles Emory Smith 

On Invitation of the Governor and the 

Legislature of the State of New York 

Tuesday Evening, March 4, 1902 

+ + 4- 

"As long as he lived he was the guiding star of 
a whole brave nation, and when he died the little chil- 
dren cried in the streets." 

So wrote Motley of William, the great Prince of 
Orange, who enlarged a Republic and fell under the 
hand of an assassin. So may we speak of the dead 
President who by a cruel fate was slain within the bor- 
ders of your State and whose memory you are assem- 
bled to honor. Thrice has our country been called to 
mourn a murdered President. The hot passions engen- 
dered by civil strife impelled the first blow. The aberra- 
ration of a disturbed brain, distorted by a perverted 
view of partisan contention, struck the second. The 
third came in an hour of profound calm, at a time of 
universal good feeling, and it was aimed not in any dis- 
ordered frenzy at the gentle individual, but with cool 
and stealthy design from the lair of lurking anarchy 
at the head of the State. The first two left a helpless 
sorrow, the third leaves a relentless duty. The grace 
of President McKinley's life and the vicariousness of 
his sacrifice for the Republic added to the poignancy 
of the public grief. 

"As long as he lived he was the guiding star of 
a whole brave nation, and when he died the little chil- 
dren cried in the streets." 

153 



154 

Heritage molds character and character shapes 
opportunity. The preparation of William McKinley 
for his great work began long before he was born. 
It began with a sturdy and rugged ancestry, imbued 
with high principle and with patriotic impulse. He 
blended the thrift and force and enthusiasm of the 
Scotch Irish blood with the strength of the Puritan 
character. For more than a century the robust union 
had been tempered with the uplifting influence of our 
free institutions and with the glorious air of Ameri- 
can liberty, and an original stock of unsurpassed 
quality was developed into the full flower of purest 
Americanism. On both sides his ancestors fought in 
the Revolutionary War, as he fought in the War for 
the Union, and frugal lives, sound intelligence and 
sterling citizenship distinguished the race through 
successive generations. 

Both of his parents, neither high-born nor low- 
born, but well representing the plain people, were of 
superior quality. In the benignity of the maternal 
love he was signally blessed like Washington, whose 
mother, when the whole world rang with his fame, 
could proudly and modestly answer the paeans of 
praise with the simple words "he has been a good son 
and I believe he has done his whole duty as a man." 
Under the nurture of such a mother, whom he always 
cherished with the fondest affection, he learned the 
elemental lessons of piety and faith and duty, and in 
his heart were early implanted the enduring principles 
of conduct and the fixed sense of obedience to obliga- 
tion which ruled his whole life. 

He was bfit seventeen when the shot at Sumter 
startled the feverish land. Its crash roused the im- 
passioned people to a sober realization that the angry 



I 



155 

strife of sections had at length burst into a war, no 
one yet dreamed how mighty, over the very existence 
of the Union. To this youth of conscience and patri- 
otic fervor the call of his country was the sufficient 
command of duty. He enlisted in the ranks of a regi- 
ment whose muster roll answered with the names of 
two future Presidents, one Justice of the Supreme 
Court, and the hero of Chickamauga. Little time 
passed before his youthful ardor and his constant 
fidelity had won the confidence and admiration of all. 
He shared all the hardships and all the glories of a 
marching and fighting command. He slept on the 
tented field under the Summer's heat and the Winter's 
snow. He kept watch by the flickering light of the 
bivouac. He followed the waving plume of Sheridan 
through the valley of the Shenandoah. He seemed to 
bear a charmed life as, with bated breath of onlookers, 
he rode along perilous ways through the storm of bul- 
lets at Kernstown. He earned his first promotion by 
his gallant behaviour on the bloodiest of days at 
Antietam. He showed his quality when as a staff of- 
ficer he took the responsibility, fortunately justified by 
the result, of directing a general of division at a vital 
point in the battle of Opequan. Had he been a man 
he would have won his stars. But even as a boy, as 
a boy behind the gun, he rose to the rank of major, 
and came out of the war with a rich and stern experi- 
ence which had knit and strengthened his whole men- 
tal and moral fibre. Throwing aside his sword he 
immediately addressed himself to the serious work of 
life. He began the study of law at his home and pur- 
sued it here at this capital, in a law school celebrated 
for the number of men it has contributed to the sue- 



156 

cesses of the profession and the distinction of a public 
career. 

With the service of the war and the training of 
school behind him at an age when men of promise are 
just leaving their college course, he settled down in 
Canton, which was thenceforth to be the home of his 
love and pride, and in after years the Mecca of the 
myriads who would lay their homage at his sacred 
shrine. His success was swift and certain. His in- 
comparable charm of manner and beauty of character 
made friends of all within his range. His skill and 
ability in counsel and in speech marked him for sure 
and recognized leadership. Within three years he was 
chosen prosecuting attorney, and in 1876, at the age 
of 33, he was elected to Congress and entered in his 
extraordinary political career. Thenceforward to the 
untimely end he advanced wuth an unbroken growth 
and a widening power till at last he stood the fore- 
most ruler with the broadest influence on the loftiest 
pedestal in the world. 

The House of Representatives was a forum sin- 
gularly suited to his powers. It is a field where the 
faculties are subjected to the severest trial and where 
merit alone can win. It has an atmosphere and a 
standard all its own. Its vast hall, its turbulent roar, 
its intolerance of fustian or feebleness, its quick and 
remorseless detection of sham and pretense, all im- 
pose a test which nothing but substantial ability can 
endure. It must be conquered or captivated or gained 
through its sincere respect. It enjoys the barbed 
shaft of sarcasm which pierces the hollow shell of 
cant or the vivid thunderbolt of invective which blasts 
the hoary forces of wrong. It is enthralled under the 
magic spell of the true orator who sets logic on fire 



157 
with passion or melts the cold form of reason with 
the subdued touch of tenderness. It appreciates the 
comprehensive knowledge which, without grace or 
adornment, but with honesty and understanding, il- 
luminates legislation and points the pathway of truth. 
But it is only by masterfulness in one form or another 
that its attention can be held or its leadership at- 
tained. For this arena of political gladiators the 
earnest, painstaking and persuasive McKinley was 
admirably fitted. He was a patient worker, a trench- 
ant debater and a skillful tactician. 

Joining freely in the conflicts of the House, he 
displayed at once such force and such chivalry that he 
left the sense of a foeman worthy of the best steel, 
and no opponent was envenomed because "still rankled 
in his side the fatal dart." He became master of all 
the moods and methods of the House. He had in his 
own knowledge and superb tact the clew of its laby- 
rinths, and he could guide through their most tortuous 
ways as surely as Theseus tracked the labyrinth of 
old with the thread of Ariadne. During the fourteen 
years of his service he steadily grew in influence and 
rank, and at last became the acknowledged leader and 
powerful moulder of politics. His conspicuous cham- 
pionship of protection led to a reproach that he was 
a man of one idea, a reproach which shriveled and 
faded in the grandeur of his later M^ork, but never just 
even when originally made. It was his duty as repre- 
sentative to deal with many questions; as Chairman 
of the Committee on Ways and Means and leader of 
the House he spoke on many subjects, and he never 
spoke save to illuminate. 

If he early determined to choose one issue of com- 
manding importance and make himself master of that, 



158 

it was only an illustration of his native sagacity and 
of his strong conviction. In devoting himself to the 
protection of home industries he became the chief ex- 
ponent of a policy that was the battle gage of parties 
and vitally connected with the welfare of the people. 
The McKinley law was the natural evolution of condi- 
tions; but it bore his name because he had early fore- 
seen developments and put himself in line to seize the 
opportunity. It passed only on the eve of the Con- 
gressional elections ; it had no adequate trial ; there 
was no time for correct understanding; the general 
political sky was darkened by untoward circumstances, 
and all the threatening signs together brought dis- 
aster. In that defeat McKinley went down for the 
moment — due however, more to the change of his dis- 
trict than to the general adverse current. But it was 
only for a moment, and in that moment of darkness 
his conviction and his courage blazed like an oriflamme. 
For, though many doubted and hesitated, he did 
not quiver! In that hour of gloom and storm of op- 
position others faltered, but McKinley never! He did 
not droop his banner a single inch, but held it aloft 
with unwavering fidelity and repledged devotion. 

"So spake the seraph Abdiel, faithful, found 
Among the faithless, faithful only he." 

His trumpet blast soon rallied the broken columns. 
Every circumstance conspired to vindicate and re- 
establish him more strongly than ever. He was chosen 
Governor of Ohio. The McKinley law was overthrown, 
but depression deepened around the whole horizon. 
Throughout the country the awakening people began 
to call for the rejected leader. The stone which the 
builders refused became the head of the corner. He 



159 
went over the land and across the continent, and his 
engaging personality and rare powers of oratory won 
their persuasive way. He had every element of popu- 
lar winsomeness. A face of sweetness and light ; deep- 
set and piercing eyes under a Websterian brow ; a per- 
sonal fascination which took hold of all who came 
within its influence ; a voice sympathetic, resonant and 
full of vibrant melody ; a style of limpid clearness and 
simplicity, tipped at times with the divine flame of 
eloquence; and almost unrivaled power of seizing the 
central and controlling facts and presenting them with 
sharp, luminous and convincing force; the allied fac- 
ulty of clarifying and crystallizing a truth or an argu- 
ment on a phrase or an epigram ; the capacity to take 
the tumbler from the table on the platform and make 
it the illustration, lucent as the sunbeam, of a theory 
or a policy so that the simplest child could understand 
and the memory carried it forever ; and over all that 
subtle and indescribable charm of sincerity and suavity 
which is irresistible — such were the rare attributes 
which swayed and carried vast multitudes. 

He thus naturally and inevitably became the 
Presidential candidate. His extraordinary campaign 
was to many of his countrymen a revelation of un- 
suspected versatility and resource. He did not leave 
his home for any tour, but tens of thousands went to 
him in multiplied delegations, representing every guild 
and every interest; and he welcomed them through 
days and weeks and months of hourly speeches so apt, 
so varied, so terse and cogent, so illustrative and sug- 
gestive, that they not only baffled criticism but formed 
the impregnable bulwark of his own canvass. His 
championship of protection nominated him. But 
events had brought the currency question to a crucial 



/ 



IGO 

position. On this question there had been serious dif- 
ferences in his own party, and their reconcilement was 
indispensable to united strength and sure success. Mc- 
Kinley's fidelity to sound currency had never been 
doubtful, but he was subjected to some reproach be- 
cause he maintained a degree of reserve while the 
process of fusing the discordant elements was going 
on. It was an exemplification of his tactful method 
of accomplishing a great end through conciliatory 
means. Far better than his well-meaning critics he 
knew that a serious rupture or division would be fatal, 
and that judicious approach would bring a satisfactory 
alignment. When his policy had welded the party to- 
gether and the time had come, he spoke in clarion tones 
and his leadership on the later of the two great issues 
was as vigorous and ringing as it had always been on 
the earlier. 

His first act as President attested the depth of his 
convictions and his self-reliant judgment. He in- 
stantly recalled Congress and the country to the Mc- 
Kinley policy ! There had been a long period of busi- 
ness depression and stagnation. Men might differ as 
to the cause — the President believed he knew the 
remedy. It was the restoration of confidence and 
credit and enterprise which would again set the wheels 
of industry in motion. Against all traditions, with 
the self confideilce of profound earnestness, he assem- 
bled Congress in extra session ; he invoked its exclusive 
devotion to the single object of its unusual meeting; 
and before the first summer of his administration had 
passed, his faith and his measures had started the 
country on a new development of activity which, wide- 
ning and extending as it advanced, ushered in the most 



161 
splendid era of industrial growth and commercial ex- 
pansion the world has ever seen! 

With restored prosperity and business stability 
thus assured, as the foundation of all advance, he was 
ready for other questions. The long-smouldering 
wrongs of Cuba, now bursting into full flame, had 
profoundly stirred the country. The American people 
could no longer silence conscience with mere protest. 
Had not Gladstone thundered against the atrocities of 
Bulgaria? Had not the Christian world held up its 
hands in impotent horror at the ghastly but sporadic 
infamies in Armenia? But these monstrous wrongs 
were far ofl:". The continuous crimes in Cuba, not less 
hideous and growing to appalling proportions, were at 
our very door. How could the impulse of humanity 
or the instinct of self-protection look on in passive 
abhorrence? For years we had offered verbal remon- 
strance and done nothing. The time had come for 
action. The cumulating records of cruelty wrought the 
country to the highest pitch of indignation. In the 
midst of this swelli*ng tide of feeling the destruction 
of a battle-ship in the harbor of Havana and the loss 
of two hundred and fifty brave American sailors in- 
flamed the public temper to white heat, and all over 
the land went forth the ominous "Remember the 
Maine!" Everywhere — in Congress and in the coun- 
try — the cry was for war! 

No one who did not see the President at close hand 
during those stormy and trying days could measure 
the greatness of his spirit or the courage of his pur- 
pose. Of all men in the land he was the coolest, the 
calmest and the most clear-sighted. Profoundly moved, 
anxious beyond all expression, he was, with his waking 
hours and his sleepless couch filled with brooding care. 



162 

but tranquil, self-contained, sure of his own lofty and 
unselfish aim. It were easy then to lead the way in 
passion for war. It needed only to ride the tempest 
and be borne along by the swift and turbid current. 
There was everything in such yielding complaisance 
to appeal to selfish ambition. War is full of glory. 
This war was certain to be triumphant. Success in 
war is the sure passport to fame and power. It would 
inevitably bring enlarged domain, and his would be the 
honor. Beyond all, this was a war with a righteous 
cause and a just object, as righteous and just as ever 
impelled men to take up arms. But there was another 
side. War at the best has its costly sacrifices. It 
makes widows and orphans ; it brings tears to the eyes 
of the mothers, and fills households with mourning. 
From all this sadder side the great and gentle soul of 
William McKinley recoiled. Not for him the pathway 
of personal ambition strewn with the bloody sacrifices 
of his people. Not for him the mingled glory and 
misery of war, however just, unless it were made clear 
that its rightful and necessary purpose could not be 
accomplished through peaceful measures. 

He did not despair of such a pacific and acceptable 
solution. In his purpose of rescuing Cuba he never 
faltered. In more sober understanding and aim he 
shared the hot determination of the country that the 
intolerable wrongs in the unhappy isle must cease; he 
had reiterated the protests of other Presidents, and, as 
the offenses grew, had gone farther in action; but he 
still hoped and believed that the redemption could be 
effected without the dread necessity of war. With this 
conviction he judiciously moderated and restrained the 
impetuous ardor of Congress, and, man of the people 
as he was, stood undaunted while the storm of popular 



163 
clamor raged about him. The world does not yet know 
the full extent of the effort he made to save Cuba and 
at the same time avert war. For sixty days he held 
back an excited and impatient country. With one hand 
he curbed his own impulsive people and with the other 
he sought to lead a proud-spirited Power up to such 
concessions as would alone render peace possible. The 
conscience, the courage and the steadfastness of that 
joint undertaking cannot easily be overstated. It must 
rank with the great acts of moral heroism among the 
rulers of men. But it was not met with the same in- 
genuous spirit; events outran every plan; the mighty 
issues hastened to their deadly grapple, and the war 
was on. Once decreed, it was fought with the utmost 
vigor and power as the most humane mandate. Our 
arms were triumphant on sea and on land. Our navy, 
always great in action, repeated and added fresh lustre 
to its earlier glories. The army was rapidly organized, 
and on new fields, under tropic skies with unwonted 
experiences, separated by half the girdle of the globe, 
it exhibited the eager spirit and unquailing courage of 
the American soldier. It is but just to say that not 
only in the general direction, but particularly in the 
culminating and crucial hour of the struggle, when 
large consequences hung on grave questions in the 
field, the President was literally the commander-in- 
chief; and when his judgment was vindicated by the 
result of his orders, with characteristic generosity he 
discountenanced any ascription of the credit which was 
rightfully his, lest it might in the slightest degree de- 
tract from the well-won laurels of the generals he de- 
lighted to honor. A hundred days, forever emblazoned 
with the names of Manila and Santiago, closed the 
war and placed the Republic in a new position before 



164 
the world. The President then confronted the still 
more difficult problems of peace. Under the condi- 
tions its issues were more completely in his hands than 
those of war. It was for him to decide the terms of 
peace, subject to the final ratification of the treaty, 
and with the reasonable certainty that the terms 
agreed on by the two Governments and formally em- 
bodied in the treaty would, unless clearly repugnant 
to the general sense, be accepted in the end. The 
gravity and the magnitude of that duty are manifest. 
It involved the momentous decision of the character 
and extent of the territorial acquisition to be made. 
And beyond the primary question of expansion, it in- 
volved the stupendous problem of the future disposi- 
tion, relations and government of the territory thus 
acquired. 

As to the islands of the Carribean the course was 
clear. Porto Rico was plainly to be ceded and the 
cession was granted and accepted with little dispute. 
Cuba was to be made free under the guardianship of 
the United States until prepared for full independence. 
But what of the Philippines? Was our flag to remain 
in those remote seas? Was it to float only over a 
naval station or over a broader area? If we were to 
gain a territorial foothold, was the vast archipelago 
to be taken in part or in whole? It is not too much 
to say that the answer to that tremendous question, 
with all its import for the destiny of our country, 
rested on the single voice of William McKinley. It 
was for him to make the first guiding determination, 
and he had acquired such authority with the people, 
such general confidence was felt in his judgment, that 
whether the conclusion had been in favor of holding 
on or of letting go there is every reason to believe that 



165 

in the plastic and formative stage of public opinion 
then his decision would have been accepted. 

It is difficult to recall another time in all our his- 
tory since the organization of the Government when 
a decision of such pregnant and far-reaching conse- 
quences rested in the hollow of a single hand save 
once. In Washington's second administration the new- 
born nation was in fever of tumult from the infection 
of the French Revolution. France had been our ally- 
in our own struggle for liberty. She was now with 
ensanguined banner proclaiming the new crusade of 
the "rights of man." Jefferson had returned from her 
soil imbued with her extreme ideas. He found a young 
and ardent people all aflame with enthusiasm for the 
tricolor and burning with passion against a recent 
and still unfriendly foe. Clubs sprang into being all 
over the land with the cockade on their hats and the 
cry of fraternity on their lips. The British Orders in 
Council intensified the public feeling. Congress an- 
swered with the embargo act and began to prepare for 
war. Had there been any leader at the head of the 
State less wise and commanding than Washington, 
the nation, still in its infancy and still enfeebled with 
its exhausting struggle for independence, would have 
madly taken up arms again. But the equipoise and 
authority of the peerless chief stayed the uplifted arm, 
sent John Jay to London on a special mission of peace, 
carried against violent opposition a treaty unpopular 
but vindicated by time, and successfully piloted the Re- 
public through a crisis of difficulty and danger. 

There have been other times when great decisions 
were taken, but it is doubtful whether there has been 
another time save that now in question, when so much 
depended on the single act of one man, unless, to name 



166 

an instance of a different kind, we except the act of 
John Adams in appointing John Marshall Chief Justice 
of the United States. President McKinley did not fail 
to appreciate the importance and the gravity of the 
question which practically rested on his sole deter- 
mination. He saw, no one better, that the acquisition 
of extended territory and alien peoples in remote 
climes would be a new departure for the Republic 
and entail problems of government of the most deli- 
cate and complex character. He saw, on the other 
hand, no one more clearly, that the withdrawal of 
American authority and care, when other authority 
and care had been extinguished, would leave an un- 
prepared people in a helpless condition and would be 
a desertion of a solemn obligation which events had 
imposed upon us. 

In this conflict of opposing views he had no real 
guide but his own sure instinct and his own sense of 
duty. He had his counselors in Cabinet, in Congress 
and in Peace Commission, but the ultimate responsi- 
bility was his. Did he ask public opinion? — but public 
opinion waited for him. It was a decision for the soli- 
tude and meditation of the statesman's closet, and 
there he took it for self-communion and for the higher 
communion with the Giver of All Wisdom, who was 
his daily guide and ever-present help in time of trou- 
ble. In reaching his conclusion there was one con- 
trolling force. He was not blind to the commercial 
opportunities which had been suddenly unveiled. With 
the prophetic eye of faith he could discern in the com- 
ing years the argosies of treasure which through the 
opening of the Orient would expand and enrich Ameri- 
can trade. But deeply interested as he was in this 
development, it was not the animating impulse of his 



167 
action. The one overmastering influence in deciding 
his course was not the spirit of territorial aggrandize- 
ment, not the acceptance of commercial opportunity, 
but his profound conviction of duty to the rude peo- 
ples whom the course of events had placed in our 
keeping. He felt that to abandon them under such 
circumstances would be recreancy to a sacred trust. 
With his robust Americanism he believed that Ameri- 
can free institutions are the best in the world, and he 
could not conceive that the freedom and hope of our 
flag would be anything else than a blessing to the 
peoples who should come under the protection and the 
inspiration of its shining folds. 

His, then, was the authority, his the responsibility, 
his the decision in what, let us fully recognize it, was 
a turning point in American history and a new epoch 
in the course of civilization. If there had been nothing 
else, this great act alone was sufficient to give him a 
sure niche in the Temple of Fame. We do not under- 
take to pass upon the questions of the future; but 
whatever may be its course it is certain that the free- 
dom which has spread its glorious light in the Philip- 
pine Islands can never be dimmed. The Filipinos, now 
rescued, may well say, with the hero of Italy, "We had 
rather take one step forward and die, than one step 
backward and live." It was William McKinley who 
lifted them out of the thraldom and darkness of three 
hundred years into the liberty and enlightenment of 
the twentieth century; and, whatever the vicissitudes 
of circumstance, it is sure that in the coming time the 
millions of dark-visaged and disenthralled people and 
their tens of millions of descendants will recognize 
him as the blacks of America recognize Lincoln, and 
that not only in the stately squares of Manila, but in 



168 

the remoter provinces of Luzon and among the dusky 
Viscayans of Cebu and Samar, then advanced in civili- 
zation, will be found rising in honor the worthy monu- 
ments of bronze or of granite, with the benignant face 
and figure so well known to us, which shall commem- 
/ orate the great Liberator. 

The first summer of the President had been given 
to the restoration of the conditions of prosperity; the 
second to the war with Spain ; the third to the insur- 
rectionary troubles in the Philippines ; and the fourth, 
in the year of his campaign for re-election, was ab- 
sorbed with the sudden and appalling outbreak in 
China. That startling assault on civilization served 
to show that the United States had taken its place at 
\ the council table of the nations. The establishment of 

our authority in the East gave us a recognized voice 
in dealing with the issues of the great Eastern Em- 
pire; the presence of our forces in the Philippines per- 
mitted the quick transfer of a fair contingent to the 
new scene of action. We were there by right, and we 
were there with visible strength. In facing this trying 
and unforseen exigency, for which there was no pre- 
cedent and no guide, the President evinced the easy 
assumption of responsibility and direction to which 
the large experience of four years, with the prepar- 
ation of twenty years behind it, had brought him. 
Under his guidance the United States proceeded with- 
out hesitation and without truculence, acting with 
other nations when their policy suited it, asserting its 
independent judgment when occasion required it, en- 
tangling itself with none and friendly with all. 

In two directions at least the United States took 
the distinct lead. It was foremost in insisting that, 
despite the furious fighting and the dreadful conditions 



169 

at Peking, there was not a state of war, and thus in 
localizing the conflict. It was no less strenuous in up- 
holding the integrity of the Empire and in moderating 
the terms of settlement. Whatever differences may 
remain on controverted questions there is universal 
concurrence that our Government handled the Chinese 
complication in a masterful and faultless manner, and 
emerged from the arduous ordeal with increased 
prestige and influence throughout the world. 

At last it seemed that for the President a time of 
tranquillity and measurable repose and well-earned 
enjoyment of his great honors had come. He had been 
re-elected with every mark of the high confidence of his 
countrymen. His great achievements were secure, 
and his fixed and well-defined policies remained only 
to be fulfilled on the lines he had clearly traced. He 
had solved and clarified the intricacies of the Cuban 
maze with a chart and charter which determined the 
future, and to which, without debate and without op- 
position, he had pledged both parties in Congress with 
a consummate adroitness and skill never surpassed in 
all our legislative history. With a sincere and pro- 
found devotion to American traditions and with a 
directness which admitted of no question, he had 
stilled the rising sentiment for a third term. He had 
with his noble magnanimity and wisdom assuaged the 
strife of sections, and brought North and South to- 
gether in such fraternal concord as they had not felt 
since they shed their blood side by side at Bunker Hill 
and Yorktown. With high hope and exultant joy he 
had traversed the continent amid the acclaims of an 
enthusiastic people. There on the further shore, look- 
ing out through the Golden Gate on the great ocean 
which his work had made an American sea, he was 



170 

called to his deepest trial, as day after day and night 
after night he trod the hazy and mysterious border- 
land of eternity with the tender companion of his 
chivalrous and matchless devotion, while the whole 
nation, with hushed breath and affectionate sympathy 
and constant prayer, followed him in his long and lov- 
ing vigil. Again alone in his never-ceasing faith, his 
cup of joy was again filled to overflowing as the frail 
thread strengthened into the silken cord, and thence- 
forward the sun shone with new radiance for him as, 
after the splendor and stress and cloud, it approached 
the mellow sweetness of promised peace and rest. 

He went to Buffalo, and amid the brilliant sur- 
roundings of its beautiful Exposition he made the im- 
pressive speech which, in its elevation of spirit, in its 
clearness of vision and in its breadth of statesmanship, 
is his fit legacy to the American people. He had re- 
nounced no article of his life-long creed. He only saw 
the consummation of the policy he had sustained, only 
the expected results he had done his part in bringing 
about. In his view reciprocity was but the ripened 
fruitage of the harvest of protection, and when his un- 
faltering faith and patient labor were rewarded by 
seeing his country in full command of her own un- 
equalled market, his hopes and aspirations naturally 
reached out to the extension of her sceptre in the ex- 
changes of the world. 

His fate on the day following this final speech 
gave it a sanctity commensurate with its significance. 
If he was great in life he was sublime in death. The 
cruel shot rang with horror around the world. His 
country and all mankind followed the changing as- 
pects with alternations of high hope and of deepest 
gloom. But through all the fluctuations of that 



171 

anguishing week, whether encouraged by the highest 
human skill or looking through the open portal to .the 
eternal morn, he and he alone waited with unquail- 
ing spirit, with serene patience and with crowning 
trust. In that hour he rose to his full height. What 
a noble exhibition of a God-like nature. Would you 
know his generosity? — recall his words as he looked 
upon the miscreant, "Don't let them hurt him." Would 
you understand his thoughtful chivalry? — remember 
his immediate admonition, "Do not let them alarm my 
wife." Would you appreciate his considerate courtesy? 
— turn to his fine sense, "I am sorry that the Exposi- 
tion has been shadowed." Would you measure his 
moral grandeur? — dwell upon that final utterance of 
sublime submission, "It is God's way; His will, not 
ours, be done." 

If I may return for a moment to Motley's de- 
lineation of William of Orange, he portrays that great 
leader as "certainly possessed of perfect courage at 
last." The fibre of William McKinley, gentle and sup- 
ple in its nature, was developed by experience and trial 
into a sinewy and scathless strength. He was called 
amiable, but when in the discussion of the terms of 
the Protocol, conducted by himself, a suggestion was 
made of his proverbial amiability, the French Ambas- 
sador quickly answered, "Mr. President, you are as 
firm as a rock." He could and did deliberate when time 
permitted, and when decision was required he could 
decide with lightning flash. If he "kept his ear to the 
ground," as the phrase w^ent, it was not only to hear 
but to know how to guide — it was not to listen to com- 
mand, but to understand how to lead. He appreciated 
with Edmund Burke that "he who would lead must 
sometimes follow," and sometimes when he seemed to 



172 

follow he had so dexterously prepared the way that in 
reality he led. He incarnated the instincts of the 
people and refined them to their best expression. He 
firmly trod the earth while his spirit soared to the 
skies. He was great in deeds and great in speech, for 
his deeds shaped history and his words swayed the 
minds and the hearts of men. From the beginning of 
his career he constantly advanced in public esteem, and 
as steadily grew in wisdom for the sucecssive emergen- 
cies and problems which confronted him. 

There are three distinct and transcendent epochs 
in the development of the American nation — epochs un- 
like any others and in importance and determining in- 
fluence far overshadowing all other parts of our his- 
tory. First is the creating period ; second, the redeem- 
ing period, and the third, the expanding period. Each 
of these moulding periods had its great leader rising 
above all others, divinely endowed and divinely called 
for its needs and its mission. 

The revolutionary and constructive period was re- 
splendent with a matchless group of extraordinary 
men. Hamilton had consummate creative genius and 
insight; Jefferson had unrivaled political instinct and 
mastery; Adams had fervid eloquence and intrepid 
faith ; Franklin had philosophic penetration and grasp ; 
Madison had practical skill and sure judgment; Jay 
had lofty purity and elevation of soul. But great as 
they were in their individual and their united strength, 
they all bowed to the unquestioned ascendency of the 
overtowering chief, whose awe-inspiring personality 
dominated every council, whose lofty wisdom guided 
every policy and whose majestic character was the rock 
of the national faith. 



173 

In the same way the redeeming period presented a 
brilliant galaxy. There was Seward, with his long 
leadership, his acute vision and his trained statecraft ; 
there was Chase, with his robust vigor and his eager 
ambition ; there was Stanton, with his impetuous ardor 
and tireless energy and organizing genius ; there was 
Sumner, with his proud and conscious scholarship, 
his impatient intensity and his moral force ; there was 
Douglas, v/ho was the Rupert of debate and the stormy 
petrel of our most turbulent politics; there was Grant 
with his conquering sword in the field, and Stevens, 
with his flaming tongue in the forum. But out of the 
West, untrained except in the clash of stump debate, 
untutored save in the self-communion of his own great 
soul, came the God-given chieftain to whom the ac- 
knowledged princes of statesmanship and oratory were 
fain to yield the sceptre of unchallenged leadership, and 
whose indomitable faith and exalted inspiration and 
heroic devotion and almost divine prescience through 
the mighty struggle for the Union have not been sur- 
passed in all the long and glowing story of liberty's 
march and humanity's progress. 

And so in the expanding period, the halo of which 
is still over us, there have been strong leaders in the 
council and in the forum; but towering over all was 
the paramount figure who will ever stand out as the 
dominant influence of this epoch of our national his- 
tory. He was supreme in moral greatness. He was 
foremost not simply because he was the titular chief 
but because in clean insight, in sure judgment, in the 
consummate faculty of knowing what to do and how 
to do it, he was the undisputed master of all. The pre- 
eminence of his political genius was universally recog- 
nized. He lived at a time when in its onward develop- 



174 

ment it was his fortune to lead the Republic to the at- 
tainment of its material independence and power; and 
then when that policy had reached its fruition it was no 
less his good fortune to lead it along the new pathways 
of greatness and glory. If his work was not finished, 
it was so far advanced and so well marked out that it 
only remains to follow the course he blazed. His 
achievements are sure and his impress on the age is 
indelible. We feel our personal loss; the Republic 
mourns the President best beloved of all while he lived ; 
but for him history is perfect, and the flawless pages of 
immortality are opened to be marred never more. 
+ 4" 4" 
WILLIAM McKINLEY 
In Senate, March 5, 1902. 
Mr. Grady offered the following resolution : 
Resolved (the Assembly concurring) , That the 
sincere thanks of the Legislature of the State of New 
York are tendered to the Hon. Charles Emory Smith 
for his masterly address and graceful and appropriate 
tribute to the personal virtues and great public serv- 
ices of the late President, William McKinley, at the 
Legislative memorial exercises, held at the State Capi- 
tol on the evening of March 4, 1902. 

The President put the question whether the Sen- 
ate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided 
in the affirmative. 

Ordered, That Clerk deliver said resolution to the 
Assembly and request their concurrence therein. 

The Assembly returned the above resolution, with 
a message that the Assembly have concurred in the 
passage of the same. 



175 

IN MEMORIAM 
In Assembly, March 5, 1902. 

Mr. Palmer offered for the consideration of the 
House a resolution, in the words following: 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Assembly be 
extended to Superintendent of Public Buildings, H. H. 
Bender, for the splendid decoration of the Assembly 
Chamber for the McKinley memorial exercises. 

Mr. Speaker put the question whether the House 
would agree to said resolution, and it was determined 
in the affirmative. 




Courtesy Baker Art Gallery, 
Columbus, Ohio. 



THE STATUE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY, 

COLUMBUS, OHIO. 



ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE UNVEILING OF 

THE STATUE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY, 

AT COLUMBUS, O., SEPT. 14, 1906 

William R. Day, 
Justice of the Supreme Court 

This address was delivered before the largest throng 
ever assembled in the City of Columbus and in the 
presence of State and National celebrities. 

+ + + 

We are met at the capital of his native State to 
dedicate this beautiful memorial to the life and char- 
acter of one of her noblest sons. Time and place fit 
the occasion. In this city William McKinley passed 
four years as Governor of the State, years of study and 
growth, as his public utterances of that period abund- 
antly show. Believing in the supremacy of the Nation 
in affairs of state which the Constitution has placed 
under Federal control, he was ever loyal to his native 
State and jealous of her reputation and standing in 
the family of the Union. Born upon the soil of Ohio, 
he grew to manhood under the fostering care of her in- 
stitutions. Upon her friendly bosom among kindred 
and friends whom he loved and cherished, his sacred 
ashes will rest, and, overlooking his old home, a Na- 
tional memorial will attest the love and gratitude of his 
countrymen. 

Ohio has been prolific of great names in peace and 
war. No native of the State but feels a just pride in 
the achievements of her sons. It were useless in this 
presence to call the roll of her illustrious dead. The 
Nation knows it. When Ohio shall again be called 
upon to present her jewels to the State, there will be 
found within the circle the noble face and figure of the 
latest of her children who were not born to die. 

179 



180 

It is fitting that with such memorials as this we 
perpetuate the names and fame of our illustrious dead. 
While they serve to recall their character and achieve- 
ments, they are also object lessons to the living. How 
many a youth, as he looks upon the manly face so vivid- 
ly portrayed by the sculptor, and reads in the groups 
which surround this statue the lesson of a noble life, 
will be stimulated to higher endeavor and more reso- 
lute purpose to achieve an honorable success. 

William McKinley, boy and man, was a type of 
the best possibilities of American life. Born neither 
to riches or poverty, he was fortunate in his birth and 
the heritage of his parentage. Descended from that 
hardy, vigorous race which has given so many noble 
men to our country, he was early taught to revere God 
and respect the rights of his fellow-men. His pious 
mother, many of whose noble traits found expression 
in the character of her son, hoped he might follow the 
ministry of the church which was hers and early in 
life became his. Although he was destined for a dif- 
ferent career, he never forgot or departed from the 
lessons of simple faith and upright living which this 
noble woman taught him, hoping that some day he 
might teach them to others. Every day of his life, 
whether in the quiet of home, or on the eve of battle, 
or when pressed with burdens seldom borne by man in 
the great afi^airs of state, he quietly and unostenta- 
tiously sought help and guidance from on high. Un- 
faltering as was his devotion to his own faith, he had 
the broadest toleration for the views of others, and 
freely conceded to all the liberty of conscience which 
he claimed for himself, numbering among his friends 
men of all creeds and shades of religious belief. 



i 



181 

Brought into early contact through the business 
of his father, who was an iron-master, with men who 
toil in shop and factory, he early conceived a strong 
sympathy for them, and became an ardent advocate of 
every measure which he believed would lead to the bet- 
terment of their condition and give to them a greater 
share of the comforts of living. Later he expressed 
this sympathy and his belief in the advantages to be 
derived from improved conditions, when he said : 

"The labor of the country constitutes its strength 
and ifs wealth ; and the better that labor is conditioned, 
the higher its rewards, the wider its opportunities, 
and the greater its comforts and refinements, the more 
sacred will be our homes, the more capable will be our 
children and the nobler will be the destiny that awaits 
us." 

From the school he heard the call of his country 
to her sons, and at once stepped into the ranks as a 
defender of the Union. His associates in arms, officers 
in the regiment, included such lawyers as Hayes and 
Matthews, and in their companionship, while a valiant 
soldier, he determined to adopt the legal profession as 
his calling, should he survive the perils of war. 

He missed the college education he had hoped to 
acquire, but gained the benefit in the formation of 
character which comes from a soldier's life. He learned 
not to be unduly elated by success or depressed by de- 
feat. He learned to help others bear the hardships of 
march and camp. 

The war over, he was fortunate in beginning the 
preparation for his calling under a judge distinguished 
for his learning and ability. Admitted to practice in 
the Ohio courts, he followed a beloved sister who had 
located in Canton, and began alone the struggle for 



182 
business and livelihood. His opportunity soon came 
when an established lawyer called upon him to present 
a cause to the local court. With a night's preparation, 
without the usual apology for inexperience, with per- 
fect self-possession and courteous manner he pre- 
sented his first argument and won his first case. For 
ten years he steadily pursued his calling, always cour- 
teous, always prepared and thorough in the presenta- 
tion of his cause. He surely would have reached high 
station at the bar had not people called him to their 
service by sending him to the National Congress the 
same year that saw his old commander chosen Presi- 
dent of the United States. For fourteen years he 
served his people as their representative, steadily gain- 
ing in weight and influence, acquiring recognition for 
his ability as a debater and admiration for his sterling 
qualities of character as a man. He had ample oppor- 
tunity to advocate his theory, of taxation for the pro- 
tection of home manufacturers and the betterment of 
American labor, this service culminating in the 
preparation and passage of the tariff measure which 
bore his name. 

In recording his devoted service to the cause of 
protection to American industries we are apt to over- 
look the fact that he rendered efficient service in Con- 
gress as a member of the Judiciary Committee of the 
House. His legal training stood him well in hand in 
the labors of that important committee. His argu- 
ments upon legal questions before the House are 
marked by clearness of expression and comprehen- 
sive grasp of his subject, leading to just conclusions. 
He made notable speeches on the counting of a quorum, 
the election of a successor to Garfield in the House, 
and a system of arbitration which showed familiarity 



183 
with legal principles and a soundness of judgment 
creditable to the profession of which he was a member. 
He was a great believer in the value of a legal educa- 
tion and the training which comes from contests of the 
forum. "Find me the best lawyer who will undertake 
the work" was not infrequently said by him when he 
was considering who should be asked to undertake im- 
portant service. 

A temporary revulsion of sentiment in the coun- 
try, aided by a gerrymander of the Ohio Congressional 
districts which made success impossible, ended his 
Congressional career. 

He believed in the soundness of his views, and, 
without a moment's hesitation or the slightest bitter- 
ness of thought or expression, he declared his adher- 
ence to his principles in defeat no less than success, 
and his party in Ohio put its standard in his hands and 
he led it to victory after one of the most arduous cam- 
paigns in a state celebrated for great political strug- 
gles. Again he led his party in a gubernatorial cam- 
paign, visiting in the meantime many parts of the coun- 
try, and everywhere received by his countrymen with 
such approval that his nomination for the Presidency 
in 1896 was inevitable. 

For the first time in the history of political cam- 
paigns his countrymen in thousands called upon their 
candidate at his modest home, and his bearing and ut- 
terances advanced him in their esteem and had much to 
do with the triumph of his party which called him to 
the highest office in the people's gift. 

His great work was still before him. He found 
our relations with Spain in a critical condition, due to 
the irritating situation in Cuba. He determined to do 
all within the range of his official duties to better the 



184 

condition of the Cuban people, to relieve the strain up- 
on our country, and, if possible, to accomplish these 
ends without an appeal to arms. These purposes are 
the key to his Cuban policy, steadily pursued with 
much accomplished, when the unlooked-for happened 
in the treacherous anchoring of the Maine, where she 
became the easy prey of malicious persons bent upon 
her destruction. The President realized that he could 
no longer hope for a peaceable settlement which did 
not include the withdrawal of Spain from the Ameri- 
can continent, and he promptly advised our minister at 
Madrid that only such a settlement would be satis- 
factory, and that no assistance could be afforded to 
further plans of so-called autonomy under Spanish 
rule. For such a settlement he worked with untiring 
zeal, while preparing for the resort to arms, until the 
passage of the resolutions demanding withdrawal was 
met by Spain sending to General Woodford his pass- 
ports, and war had come. 

When history shall record the events of that brief 
struggle it will be known how truly the President di- 
rected the forces by land and sea. 

He had been a soldier, but he loved peace, and 
knew in her victories was our best security. He 
dreaded the suffering which must come to a people in 
the loss of its young and gallant sons more than all 
the treasure that war would cost, but he knew that be- 
ing in the conflict it was merciful to bend every effort 
to its successful prosecution. 

No responsibility of his eventful administration 
rested more profoundly upon his heart and mind than 
that which involved the exercise of the treaty-making 
power in determining the fate of the Philippine 
Islands. He did not seek and would gladly have avoided 



185 

the necessity of carrying our governmental responsi- 
bility to distant people unused to self-government, and 
having little in common with our institutions and 
aspirations. After the most careful consideration he 
reached the conclusion that we could not abandon these 
people to their fate, or throw them as a bone of conten- 
tion among the nations. 

With a full appreciation of the difficulties involved, 
he finally concluded that our duty demanded that the 
United States take title to these islands, and instructed 
the Peace Commissioners to demand their cession, at 
the same time extending liberal concessions to a van- 
quished foe. He was actuated by no desire to bring 
dependent people under imperial control. As he him- 
self declared, his purpose was rather to deliver ten mil- 
lions of people from the yoke of imperialism. He be- 
lieved in the power of the American Nation, as de- 
clared by Chief Justice Marshall in one of his great 
judgments, to acquire territory in the ways known to 
civilized nations. And he believed with equal confi- 
dence that the representatives of the people, exercising 
the powers conferred by the Constitution, might be 
trusted to see that the people who come under our flag 
shall have the inestimable privileges of self-govern- 
ment as fast as they are capable of exercising them for 
themselves. 

In that great state paper which directed the forma- 
tion of the first Philippine government he required that 
it should embrace the right of the people to enjoy all 
the rights and privileges secured by the Bill of Rights 
of the American Constitution to our own citizens for 
the protection of life, liberty and property — except, 
it is true, trial by jury, unknown to the established 
system of jurisprudence in the civilized parts of the 



186 

islands, and wholly unadapted to other people inhabit- 
ing the archipelago. He declared our principles should 
suffer no change by their application to new conditions, 
and he never for an instant forgot that his country 
stood among the Nations for the right of the people to 
govern themselves, and that with more than a million 
of his countrymen, he, too, had fought and thousands 
of his comrades had died upon the field of battle to per- 
petuate a government "of the people, by the people and 
for the people." 

"Man is neither master of his life nor of his fate. 
He can but offer to his fellow-men his efforts to dimin- 
ish human suffering; he can but offer to God his in- 
domitable faith in the growth of liberty." 

More clearly than some of our own statesmen, 
Mr. Gladstone foresaw the sure growth in influence of 
the American in the world, and of it said : 

"Will it be instinct with moral life in proportion 
to its material strength ? One thing is certain : his 
temptations will multiply with his power, his responsi- 
bilities with his opportunities. Will the seed be sown 
among the thorns? Will worthlessness overrun the 
ground and blight its flowers and its fruit? On the 
answer to these questions and to such as these it will 
depend whether this new revelation of power on the 
earth is also to be a revelation of virtue, whether it 
shall prove a blessing or a curse. May heaven avert 
every dark omen, and grant that the latest and largest 
growth of the great Christian civilization shall also be 
the brightest and best." 

No man felt the weight of these portentious ques- 
tions more keenly than did William McKinley. 

If William McKinley were alive to-day he would 
deplore the instances of faithlessness to public trust 



187 
and private duty which have been disclosed to the 
country. But his confidence in his countrymen and the 
institutions of free government would give no counte- 
nance to the pessimistic spirit which sees in these re- 
cent developments the downfall of the Republic and 
the end of popular government. 

He would find rather in the aroused public con- 
science the evidence that the American people are ar- 
rayed as never before against corruption in high places, 
and have entered upon a campaign of purification in 
public and private life which does not mean that 
shortcoming has never existed before or that our stand- 
ards of conduct have lowered, but that the people are 
arising in their might to end such conditions and speed 
the day when the betrayal of public trust shall be as 
obnoxious as criminal attacks upon life or property. 
He would have believed that the great mass of the 
American people are true to the principles upon which 
the country was founded, and know that our safety lies 
in an honest administration of public affairs and an in- 
sistence upon high standards of integrity in private 
life, with obedience to laws enforced with an equal 
hand alike upon the rich and upon the poor. He would 
have found assurance for his faith in the people mak- 
ing straight any paths which are still crooked in the 
fact that, with few exceptions, American statesmen 
are patriotic men of clean lives, honestly and faithfully 
discharging their duties to the public, and that venal 
practices which would have been condoned twenty-five 
years ago would end the career of a public man to- 
day. That the standards of conduct have advanced, not 
retrograded, and that the great body of our public 
men are neither corrupt nor corruptible. 



', 188 

We may be too near the events to weigh with the 
impartiality of the historian the achievements of his 
I administration. Of some things it is as certain now as 
it will be a century hence ; he found the country in the 
slough of financial and industrial despond; he left it 
prosperous as never before in its history. He con- 
ducted a short and brilliant war which liberated a peo- 
ple and brought forth a new nation. He directed a 
peace of unexampled liberality toward a conquered 
foe, and the making of a treaty of peace which took 
millions of people under the protection of our flag, and 
began their tutelage for enlightened self-government. 
He set an example of liberality and fairness in the 
treatment of the people of the far East which required 
only remuneration for offenses committed against our 
citizens and left their territory unspoiled by seizure 
against their will. His country became as never be- 
fore a power among the nations, and her flag the only 
passport needed to insure the protection of the rights 
of her citizens. He crowned all with a clean life, an 
unspotted character, and a devotion to the simple duties 
of home and fireside which have made his name a 
'synonym for all that is best in the most sacred rela- 
tions of son, husband and father. 

William McKinley was devoted to his country 
and its institutions. He did not concur in the Na- 
poleonic theory that a man in power should undertake 
to shape events to his own selfish purpose. He be- 
lieved the sober sense of the people of a republic was 
the ultimate appeal of the statesman. To every ques- 
tion of public policy he gave the most earnest and care- 
ful thought, and sought to guide public sentiment in 
the channels which he considered to be the best for the 
general good. He delighted to take his countrymen in- 



189 

to his confidence as to his plans and purposes by fre- 
quent visits among them and frank utterances in their 
presence. He was ever of the people and kept in touch 
with them. We may learn his ideals of the duties of 
a chief magistrate in the words spoken by him of his 
great predecessor: 

"What were the traits of character which made 
Abraham Lincoln prophet and master, without a rival, 
in the great crisis of our history? 

"What gave him such mighty power? To me the 
answer is simple; Lincoln had sublime faith in the 
people. He walked with and among them. He recog- 
nized the importance and power of an enlightened pub- 
lic sentiment and was guided by it. Even amid the 
vicissitudes of war he concealed little from public view 
and inspection. In all he did he invited rather than 
evaded examination and criticism. He submitted his 
plans and purposes, as far as practicable, to public 
consideration with perfect frankness and sincerity. 
There was such homely simplicity in his character that 
it could not be hedged in by the pomp of place or the 
ceremonies of high oflicial station. He was so accessi- 
ble to the public that he seemed to take the whole 
people into his confidence. Here, perhaps, was one 
secret of his power. The people never lost their con- 
fidence in him, however much they unconsciously added 
to his personal discomforts and trials. His patience 
was almost superhuman, and who will say that he was 
mistaken in the treatment of the thouands who 
thronged continually about him. More than once when 
reproached for permitting visitors to crowd upon him. 
he asked in pained surprise: 'Why, what harm does 
this confidence in men do me? I get only good in- 
spiration from it.' " 



190 
How unconsciously, yet how truthfully, in this 
picture he holds the mirror up to his own character 
and conduct. 

No less faithfully has he drawn his own portrait, 
when, saying of him : 

"Lincoln had a happy, peculiar habit, which few 
public men have attained, of looking away from the 
deceptive and misleading influences about him — and 
none are more deceptive than those of public life in 
our capital — straight into the hearts of the people. He 
could not be deceived by the self-interested host of 
eager counsellors who sought to enforce their own pe- 
culiar views upon him as the views of the country. He 
chose to determine for himself what the people were 
thinking about and wanting to do, and no man ever 
lived who was a more accurate judge of their opinions 
and wishes." 

William McKinley knew a war begun, without 
exhausting every means of reaching an honorable 
peace, would not be justified by the sober sense of the 
people. 

He knew that neither law nor fact, when fully dis- 
cussed and fairly developed, would justify the recogni- 
tion of the so-called Cuban Republic, and he stood like 
a rock against the folly of such a course, and time has 
vindicated the wisdom of his position. When his mind 
was made up he was firm and immovable. Seeking the 
advice and listening to the opinions of others associated 
in the responsibilities of his administration, he was the 
executive head of the government, and took the respon- 
sibility of ultimate decision upon himself. 



191 

Turn again to his picture of Lincoln : 

"He was neither an autocrat nor a tyrant. If 
he moved slowly sometimes it was better to move 
slowly, and, like the successful general he was, he was 
only waiting for his reserves to come up. Possessing 
almost unlimited power, he yet carried himself like one 
of the humblest of men. He weighed every subject. 
He considered and reflected upon every phase of public 
duty. He got the average judgment of the plain peo- 
ple." 

As truly as Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley 
believed that this average judgment was the power 
that should control in the public affairs of a free 
people. 

Burke has said : "A disposition to preserve and an 
ability to improve, taken together, would be my stand- 
ard of a statesman." William McKinley's career was 
a steady growth from his entrance into public life to 
his last speech at Buffalo, which comes to us with the 
force of the last words of wisdom and the tender 
beauty of a benediction. 

The first of protectionists, he lived to see his 
country developed until it led the manufacturing na- 
tions of the world, when more markets must be sought 
for our products, and he boldly declared for an enlight- 
ened public policy which should seek the reciprocal 
trade of the world without impairing the present high 
standard of American production and wages. 

In touching words, bidding farewell to his neigh- 
bors and townsmen, when, leaving them to take up the 
untried duties of the Presidency, he declared : 

"To all of us the future is as a sealed book, but if 
I can, by official act or administration or utterance in 
any degree add to the prosperity and unity of our be- 



192 

loved country and the advancement and well-being of 
our splendid citizenship, I will devote the best and 
most unselfish efforts of my life to that end." 

To promote the restoration of cordial feeling be- 
tween the sections of our country which had been in 
deadly difference was a purpose close to his heart. 
Early in his administration he found a gallant son of 
the South in the most important consular position 
within his gift. To the partisan demand for his re- 
moval to make place for another he returned the same 
answer that he afterwards made to Spain when she 
requested his removal, that it would not be thought of 
so long as he did his duty with the devotion and 
patriotism which characterized his acts. When war 
came he had the satisfaction of giving to Fitzhugh Lee 
a commission to lead the sons of those who had worn 
the gray, as well as those who had worn the blue, 
against the enemy of a common country. He had the 
supreme satisfaction of seeing the sectional line dis- 
appear in the devotion to country of those who had 
met but a few years before in the strife of the greatest 
of civil conflicts. He believed that war had been prose- 
cuted to make this a Union in fact as well as in name, 
and he stirred the Southern heart with love when he 
declared in the presence of a great gathering at At- 
lanta : 

"Every soldier's grave made during our unfor- 
tunate civil v(^ar is a tribute to American valor." 

So responsive had he found his Southern breth- 
ren to his expression of good will that the following 
day he gave utterance to sentiments which expressed 
his gratitude in these fervent words : 

"Reunited ! Glorious realization ! It expresses 
the thought of my mind and the long deferred consum- 



193 
mation of my heart's desire as I stand in this presence. 
It interprets the hearty demonstration here witnessed, 
and is the patriotic refrain of all sections and all lovers 
of the republic. Reunited— one country again and one 
country forever .'-Proclaim it from the press and pul- 
pit; teach it in the schools, write it across the skies 
The world sees it and feels it. It cheers every heart 
North and South, and brightens the life of every 
American home. Let nothing ever strain it again At 
peace with all the world and with one another, what 
can stand in the pathway of our progress and pros- 
perity?" 

When he lay upon his bed of suffering no messages 
could exceed in sympathy and iQve those which came 
from the Southland. Had there been room to receive 
them, his funeral cortege would have numbered thou- 
sands who had borne arms against the Union. ''When 
he lived"-as Motley said of the martyred William of 
Orange— "he was the guiding star of a whole brave 
people; when he died, the little children cried in the 
streets." 

William McKinley loved his home and cherished 
his friends. There is a closer tie between the dwellers 
m the smaller communities than is possible in the rush 
and diversity of interest and attraction in large cities 
The good old-fashioned word "neighbor" means much 
to those who depend upon one another closely in the 
daily walk of life, and who turn naturally to those near 
them in time of sorrow and distress. 

No matter to what heights of success he arose 
coming home, President McKinley was ever the same 
to neighbors and friends of his early manhood. To 
others he may have been the ruler of the first of na- 
tions, intrusted with power to make or mar a people's 



194 
destiny. At home he was ever the guide, counsellor 
and friend of those who knowing him best loved him 
most. His ideal of home was one of peace and com- 
fort, not extravagance and display. "The American 
home," he declared, "where honesty, sobriety and truth 
preside, and a simple every-day virtue without pomp 
and ostentation, is practised, is the nursery of all true 
education." It is in homes such as this that the people 
bereft of one of their own, mourn his departure. It 
was in the upbuilding of such homes that William 
McKinley found the highest duty of constructive 
statesmanship and the true safeguard of Republican 
institutions. 

One who knew and loved him, and had seen the 
beauty of his home life, has well said : 

"From the front porch of a cottage covered with 
vines yonder at Canton, the outline sketch of two lives 
has been thrown, so beautiful in their loyalty to one 
another that good men everywhere stand in silence be- 
fore it while the womanhood of the world seeing the 
knightliness of love which alters not, draw near, from 
stations high and low, to salute the picture with the 
benediction of their tears." 

Who shall speak adequately of the gentleness and 
kindness of this strong man? Cardinal Newman has 
said: "It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say 
that he is one who never inflicts pain." If that be the 
test, he was indeed one, "Who wore without reproach 
the grand old name of gentleman." 

William McKinley never consciously wronged a 
fellow-being. It was his rule not only to refrain from 
inflicting pain, but to scatter joy wherever he could. 
He would step aside from a march of retreat to assure 
a weeping mother, who loved the Union, that defeat 



195 

was but for a day and would be turned into victory. 
Steadfast in his friendship, he would not swerve from 
loyalty for the glittering prize of the Presidency. En- 
during the burdens which came before, during and 
after the war, no word of impatience ever escaped his 
lips, and he met the people with a smile of welcome 
and a word of encouragement. He would turn from 
the most important affair of state to give a flower to 
a little child, or to say some kindly word to a visit- 
or for whom he could do no more. Resentments he 
had none. He believed that life was too short to give 
any of his time to cherishing animosity. Sensitive to 
criticism, no one ever heard him utter an unkind word 
of another. He met calumny with silence and unfair 
criticism with charity. His was the gospel of cheer- 
fulness. His presence was sunshine, never gloom ; his 
encouraging words dispelled doubt and nerved others 
to their duty. 

In the fullness of life, with a message of good 
will and kindness yet fresh on his lips, meeting the peo- 
ple who delighted to testify that affection and appre- 
ciation which was his highest reward for faithful and 
unremitting service, he was felled to earth for no other 
offense than that in his person he represented the head 
of the nation, and stood for liberty regulated by law, 
and not for that unbridled license which knows no re- 
spect for the laws of God or man. 
"The words of mercy were upon his lips, 
Forgiveness in his heart and on his pen, 
When this vile murderer brought swift eclipse 
To thoughts of peace on earth, good will toward men.'^ 
So gentle, kind and true had been this life that 
not even his slayer could strike at him. With this gen- 
tleness what mighty strength! Death meets all on 



196 
equal terms. The man as he is then stands unveiled. 
With so much to make life dear, this gentle man did 
not falter when the summons came. Looking forward 
to retirement in the home he loved, sure of the affec- 
tion of his countrymen and the respect of the world, 
holding the hand of his loved companion, whose wel- 
fare had ever been the first purpose of his life, and 
whose returning strength had made the last summer 
one pf his brightest, he entered the shadow of death 
with no murmur at his fate, leaning on the rod and 
staff which had comforted his fathers, died as he had 
lived in humble submission to the will of God. 

He lives in the love of hi^ countrymen. His mem- 
ory grows brighter with the years; the nobleness of 
his life, the sublime heroism of his death shall never 
perish from the thoughts of men. He lives in the 
thousands of homes where comfort and domestic peace 
reflect the wisdom of his statesmanship. He lives in 
the beneficence of his example at every hearth where 
succeeding generations shall recount the strength and 
beauty of his character and tell again the story of his 
life. 




Courtesy Courtnejr Studio, 
Canton, Ohio. 



THE McKINLEY STATUE, 

CANTON, OHIO. 

(See inscription on another page.) 




In Memoriam 

William McKinley 

PRESIDENT 

OF 
THE UNITED STATES 
A STATESMEN SINGULARLY 
GIFTED TO UNITE THE DIS- 
CORDANT FORCES OF GOVERN- 
MENT AND MOULD THE 
DIVERSE PURPOSES OF MEN 
TOWARD PROGRESSIVE AND 
SALUTARY ACTION, A MAGIST- 
RATE WHOSE POISE OF JUDGE- 
MENT WAS TESTED AND 
VINDICATED IN A SUCCESSION 
OF NATIONAL EMERGENCIES, 
GOOD CITIZEN, BRAVE 
SOLDIER, WISE EXECUTIVE, 
HELPER AND LEADER OF MEN, 
EXEMPLAR TO HIS PEOPLE 
OF THE VIRTUES THAT BUILD 
AND CONSERVE THE STATE 
SOCIETY AND THE HOME 




MEMORIAL DEDICATION POEM 

James Whitcomb Riley 

The dedication of the McKinley monument and 
statue at Canton, Ohio, on September 30th. 1907, was 
attended by a throng of 50,000 people. The Governor 
of the State, the President of the United States, mem- 
bers of his cabinet, many Senators and Congressmen 
and others of note were present. 

Mr. Riley was introduced by Governor Andrew L. 
Harris, who presided. 

4" + + 

He said: "It is God's way; 

His will, not ours, be done — " 
And o'er our land a shadow lay 

That darkened all the sun ; 
The voice of Jubilee, 

That gladdened all the air. 
Fell sudden to a quavering key 

Of suppliance and prayer. 
He was our chief — our guide — 

Sprung from our common earth. 
From youth's long struggle proved and tried 

To manhood's highest worth ; 
Through toil, he knew all needs 

Of all his toiling kind — 
The favored striver who succeeds — 

The one who falls behind. 
The boy's young faith he still 

Retained through years mature — 
The faith to labor, hand and will, 

Nor doubt the harvest sure — 
The harvest of man's love — 

A nation's joy, that swells 
To heights of song, or deeps whereof 

But sacred silence tells. 
To him his county seemed, 

Even as a mother, where 
He rested — slept; and once he dreamed 

As on her bosom there — 

201 



202 

And thrilled to hear, within 

That dream of her, the call 
Of bugles and the clang and din 

Of war, and o'er it all 
His rapt eyes caught the bright 

Old banner, winging wild. 
And beck'ning him as to the fight. 

When — even as a child — 
He wakened and the dream 

Was real ! And he leapt, 
As lead the proud flag through a gleam, 

Of tears the mother wept. 
His was a tender hand — 

Even as a woman's is — 
And yet as fixed, in right's command, 

As this bronze hand of his : 
This was the soldier brave — 

This was the victor fair — 
This is the hero heaven gave 

To glory here — and there. 



MEMORIAL DEDICATION ADDRESS 

President Theodore Roosevelt 

This address was delivered at Canton, Ohio, Sep- 
tember 30th, 1907, on the occasion o£ the dedication 
of the McKinley Monument. 

In the presence of a vast throng and in the imme- 
diate presence of a distinguished company. Governor 
Harris introduced the speaker. 

+ 4" 4- 

We have gathered together today to pay our 
meed of respect and affection to the memory of Wil- 
liam McKinley, who as President won a place in the 
hearts of the American people such as but three or four 
of all the presidents of this country have ever won. He 
was of singular uprightness and purity of character, 
alike in public and in private life ; a citizen who loved 
peace, he did his duty faithfully and well for four 
years of war when the honor of the Nation called him 
to arms. As congressman, as governor of his state, 
and finally as President, he rose to the foremost place 
among our statesmen, reaching a position which would 
satisfy the keenest ambition; but he never lost that 
simple and thoughtful kindness toward every human 
being, great or small, lofty or humble, with whom he 
was brought in contact, which so endeared him to our 
people. 

He had to grapple with more serious and complex 
problems than any president since Lincoln, and yet, 
while meeting every demand of statesmanship, he con- 
tinued to live a beautiful and touching family life, a 
life very healthy for this nation to see in its foremost 
citizen ; and now the woman who walked in the shadow 
ever after his death, the wife to whom his loss was a 

203 



204 

calamity more crushing than it could be to any other 
human being, lies beside him here in the same sepul- 
cher. 

There is a singular appropriateness in the in- 
scription on his monument. Mr. Cortelyou, whose re- 
lations with him were of such close intimacy, gives me 
the following information about it : On the President's 
trip to the Pacific slope in the spring of 1901 Presi- 
dent Wheeler, of the University of California, con- 
ferred the degree of LL. D. upon him in words so well 
chosen that they struck the fastidious taste of John 
Hay, then secretary of state, who wrote and asked for 
a copy of them from President Wheeler. On the re- 
ceipt of this copy he sent the following letter to Presi- 
dent McKinley, a letter which now seems filled with a 
strange and unconscious prescience. 

"Dear Mr. President: 

President Wheeler sent me the inclosed at my re- 
quest. You will have the words in more permanent 
shape. They seem to me remarkably well chosen, and 
stately and dignified enough to serve — long hence, 
please God — as your epitaph. 

Yours, faithfully, 

JOHN HAY. 

"University of California 
"Office of the President 
"By authority vested in me by the regents of the 
University of California, I confer the degree of Doctor 
of Laws upon William McKinley, President of the 
United States, a statesman singularly gifted to unite 
the discordant forces of the government and mold the 
diverse purposes of men toward progressive and salu- 
tary action, a magistrate whose poise of judgment has 



205 

been tested and vindicated in a succession of national 
emergencies; good citizen, brave soldier, wise execu- 
tive, helper and leader of men, exemplar to his people 
of the virtues that build and conserve the state, society, 
and the home. 

"Berkeley, May 15, 1901." 

It would be hard to imagine an epitaph which a 
good citizen would be more anxious to deserve or one 
which would more happily describe the qualities of 
that great and good citizen whose life we here com- 
memorate. He possessed to a very remarkable degree 
the gift of uniting discordant forces and securing from 
them a harmonious action which told for good govern- 
ment. From purposes not merely diverse, but bitterly 
conflicting, he was able to secure healthful action for 
the good of the state. In both poise and judgment he 
rose level to several emergencies he had to meet as 
leader of the nation, and like all men with the root of 
true greatness in them he grew to steadily larger stat- 
ure under the stress of heavy responsibilities. He was 
a good citizen and a brave soldier, a chief executive 
whose wisdom entitled him to the trust which he re- 
ceived throughout the nation. He was not only a 
leader of men but preeminently a helper of men; for 
one of his most marked traits was the intensely human 
quality of his wide and deep sympathy. Finally, he 
not merely preached, he was, that most valuable of all 
citizens in a democracy like ours, a man who in the 
highest place served as an unconscious example to his 
people of the virtues that build and conserve alike our 
public life, and the foundation of all public life, the 
intimate life of the home. 

Many lessons are taught by his career, but none 
more valuable than the lesson of broad human sym- 



206 
pathy for and among all of our citizens of all classes 
and creeds. No other President has ever more de- 
served to have his life work characterized in Lincoln's 
words as being carried on 'with malice toward none, 
with charity toward all.' As a boy he worked hard 
with his hands; he entered the army as a private 
soldier ; he knew poverty ; he earned his own livelihood 
and by his own exertions he finally rose to the position 
of a man of moderate means. Not merely was he in 
personal touch with farmer and town dweller, with 
capitalist and wageworker, but he felt an intimate un- 
derstanding of each, and therefore an intimate sym- 
pathy with each; and his consistent effort was to try 
to judge all by the same standard and to treat all with 
the same justice. Arrogance toward the weak, and en- 
vious hatred of those well off, were equally abhorrent 
to his just and gentle soul. 

Surely this attitude of his should be the attitude 
of all our people today. It would be a cruel disaster to 
this country to permit ourselves to adopt an attitude of 
hatred and envy toward success worthily won, toward 
wealth honestly acquired. Let us in this respect profit 
by the example of the people of the republics in this 
western hemisphere to the south of us. Some of these 
republics have prospered greatly, but there are certain 
ones that have lagged far behind, that still continue in 
a condition of material poverty, of social and political 
unrest and confusion. 

Without exception the republics of the former 
class are those in which honest industry has been as- 
sured of reward and protection ; those where a cordial 
welcome has been extended to the kind of enterprise 
which benefits the whole country, while incidentally, 



207 

as is right and proper, giving substantial rewards to 
those who manifest it. On the other hand, the poor 
and backward republics, the republics in which the lot 
of the average citizen is least desirable, and the lot of 
the laboring man worst of all, are precisely those re- 
publics in which industry has been killed because 
wealth exposed its owner to spoliation. To these com- 
munities foreign capital now rarely comes, because it 
has been found that as soon as capital is employed so 
as to give substantial remuneration to those supplying 
it, it excites ignorant envy and hostility, which result 
in such oppressive action, within or without the law, 
as sooner or later to work a virtual confiscation. Every 
manifestation of feeling of this kind in our civilization 
should be crushed at the outset by the weight of a sen- 
sible public opinion. 

From the standpoint of our material prosperity 
there is only one other thing as important as the dis- 
couragement of a spirit of envy and hostility toward 
honest business men, toward honest men of means; 
this is the discouragement of dishonest business men, 
the war upon the chicanery and wrongdoing which are 
peculiarly repulsive, peculiarly noxious, when ex- 
hibited by men who have no excuse of want, of poverty, 
of ignorance, for their crimes. 

Men of means, and above all men of great wealth, 
can exist in safety under the peaceful protection of the 
state, only in orderly societies, where liberty manifests 
itself through and under the law. It is these men who, 
more than any others, should, in the interests of the 
class to which they belong, in the interests of their 
children and their children's children, seek in every 
way, but especially in the conduct of their lives, to in- 



208 

sist upon and to build up respect for the law. It may 
not be true from the standpoint of some particular 
individual of this class, but in the long run it is pre- 
eminently true from the standpoint of the class as a 
whole, no less than of the country as a whole, that it is 
a veritable calamity to achieve a temporary triumph 
by violation or evasion of the law ; and we are the best 
friends of the man of property ; we show ourselves the 
staunchest upholders of the rights of property, when 
we set our faces like flint against those offenders who 
do wrong in order to acquire great wealth or who use 
this wealth as a help to wrongdoing. 

Wrongdoing is confined to no class. Good and 
evil are to be found among both rich and poor, and in 
drawing the line among our fellows we must draw it 
on conduct and not on worldly possessions. In the 
abstract most of us will admit this. In the concrete 
we can act upon such doctrine only if we really have 
knowledge of and sympathy with one another. If both 
the wage-worker and the capitalist are able to enter 
each into the other's life, to meet him so as to get into 
genuine sympathy with him, most of the misunder- 
standing between them will disappear and its place 
will be taken by a judgment broader, juster, more 
kindly, and more generous; for each will find in the 
other the sarrle essential human attributes that exist 
in himself. It was President McKinley's peculiar 
glory that in actual practice he realized this as it is 
given to but few men to realize it ; that his broad and 
deep sympathies made him feel a genuine sense of one- 
ness with all his fellow-Americans, whatever their 
station or work in life, so that to his soul they were all 
joined with him in a great brotherly democracy of the 



209 

spirit. It is not given to many of us in our lives actu- 
ally to realize this attitude to the extent that he did; 
but we can at least have it before us as the goal of our 
endeavor, and by so doing we shall pay honor better 
than in any other way to the memory of the dead 
President whose services in life we this day commem- 
orate. 




Courtesy, Courtney Studio, 
Canton, Ohio. 

THE McKINLEY MONUMENT, CANTON, OHIO. 

(Front view.) 

THIS MONUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED AT A COST OF 

$595,000, WHICH REPRESENTS THE CONTRIBUTIONS 

OF MORE THAN A MILLION MEN, 

WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 



WILLIAM McKINLEY 

Marlin E. Olmstead 
Congressman Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania 

This address was given before the Young Men's 
Republican Tariff Club of Pittsburgh, Pa., January 
29th, 1912. 

This Club, as does the Tippecanoe Club, observes 
annually McKinley Day. 

The banquet was held in the banquet hall of The 
Schenley, Pittsburgh. 

Other speakers were Senator Boies Penrose and 
Congressman John Dalzell. 

Toastmaster, Senator William E. Crow, introduced 
the speaker. 

+ + * 
This nation was made possible under Washing- 
ton, saved from the Valley of Death under Lincoln, and 
rescued from impending bankruptcy, magnified, glori- 
fied and made a world power under William McKinley. 
Descended from an ancestor who plied his trade 
as weaver in York, Pa. ; the seventh child of the mana- 
ger of an iron foundry ; born in a little wooden building 
used partly as a store and partly as a dwelling ; with no 
surroundings of luxury or wealth and no unusual edu- 
cational advantages; he was just a typical average 
American boy, a sample of the product of our Ameri- 
can life. He inherited from his parents a strong con- 
stitution and acquired from them and their teachings 
the attributes of a noble and lofty character and habits 
of great industry; with these as a foundation he 
worked out his own destiny. 

When, at the age of 21, he began the study of 
law, he was already a Grand Army veteran. With four 
years of army service to his credit, he wore that little 

213 



214 
bronze button with as much pride as any honor subse- 
quently bestowed upon him by a grateful people. He 
had enlisted as a private, participated in many con- 
flicts, been twice promoted for gallant service on the 
field of battle, and honorably discharged at the end of 
the war with the rank of major. 

In 1876, at the age of 33, he was elected to Con- 
gress and served for seven consecutive terms. 

By close application, industry and ability he 
gradually compelled recognition as a leader, and in 
1889 was one of several candidates for the speakership, 
standing next to Thomas B. Reed, who, on the third 
ballot, defeated him. 

Upon the death of William D. Kelly of Pennsyl- 
vania, he became chairman of the ways and means com- 
mittee and floor leader of his party in the House. He 
had already become a champion of protection, and in 
that Congress introduced, and after a protracted strug- 
gle secured the passage of the famous McKinley tariff 
bill. 

As the result of a gerrymandered district he was, 
in 1890, defeated for re-election to Congress. Outraged 
by the treatment he had received, the people of Ohio 
elected him governor by the highest vote ever cast for 
that office. 

In 1892, owing largely to misrepresentation and 
misunderstanding of his tariff bill, and to the high cost 
of living which was charged up to it, the Republican 
party was hurled from power and the Democrats, suc- 
ceeding to all branches of the government, promptly 
repealed the McKinley bill. There immediately set in 
a flowing tide of distrust, distress and bankruptcy. The 
cost of the necessities of life was indeed reduced, in dol- 
lars and cents, but in human labor, was so increased 



215 

as to put them out of reach, and by 1896 there were 
more than 1,000,000 unemployed men. 

The people again longed for a return to the prin- 
ciples of which William McKinley was the avowed 
champion. Having in the meantime been re-elected 
governor of Ohio by an enormous vote, he was in that 
year nominated for the presidency upon the first ballot 
over his nearest competitor, Thomas B. Reed, who, 
seven years before, had defeated him for the speaker- 
ship. 

Had McKinley been made speaker, then Reed 
would have become chairman of the Ways and Means 
Committee. It would have been the Reed bill instead 
of the McKinley bill. McKinley would have continued 
speaker and Reed would have become president of the 
United States. 

It was as the champion of protection that Mc- 
Kinley rode to power and glory. He declared that it 
was not merely a theory with him, but a conviction. 

He never changed his convictions to secure dele- 
gates or to catch votes. Even in the hour of his party's 
defeat he prophetically declared that "The principles 
and policies of that bill will yet win a greater victory 
for our party than we have ever had before." 

He had been chairman of the platform committee 
in the national convention of 1884 and framed the 
strong protective platform then adopted. In his second 
gubernatorial campaign he advocated a protective tar- 
iff more strongly than ever, and when, in 1896, the 
people chose him for their highest ol!ice by an over- 
whelming majority, they did so because they looked 
upon him as the living embodiment and very personifi- 
cation of that principle. 



216 

My first appearance in Congress was in the extra 
session which he called immediately after his inaugu- 
ration. My first speech was made and my first vote 
cast in favor of the Dingley tariff" bill, framed along 
the lines of the McKinley bill. Whether all the good 
things that followed were purely the result of that en- 
actment need not be discussed. The fact remains that, 
as by the wand of the magician, the clouds of adversity 
which had been hanging over the country were changed 
to clouds of smoke pouring from thousands of stacks 
all over the land. The wheels of industry began to re- 
volve and the spindles to hum; the sound of the pick 
was again heard; cars moved from sidings into active 
use upon the main tracks ; a million idle men were put 
to work; soup houses were abolished; business confi- 
dence was restored, and all went merry as a marriage 
bell. 

It is only 15 years since tariff for revenue only 
was supplemented by a protective tariff, and yet within 
that short decade and a half the amount paid annually 
in wages for labor has more than doubled ; the annual 
value of agricultural products has more than doubled ; 
the business of our railroads and the products of our 
mines and of our factories have more than doubled; 
the amount of money in circulation in the country has 
more than doubled ; our exports and imports have more 
than doubled — in brief, the great volume of our com- 
merce, both foreign and domestic, has more than 
doubled in that short time. 

Under the system of protection to American 
labor, Pennsylvania has "waxed fat and kicked" — 
sometimes, but never at protection. That you believe 
in it is manifest from the name of your organization — 
Young Men's Republican Tariff Club. 



217 

Since William McKinley left Congress the princi- 
ple of protection has never had in that body a cham- 
pion more loyal or more able than Pennsylvania's pres- 
ent representative upon the Ways and Means Commit- 
tee, your own Congressman John Dalzell. 

The principle of protection has never had in the 
Senate two more zealous advocates than our own pres- 
ent senators, one of whom, Senator George T. Oliver, is 
from your own city. 

No member of the United States Senate from 
Pennsylvania has ever achieved a position of more com- 
manding power and influence in that body, more faith- 
fully supported the principles and policies of William 
McKinley, than the present chairman of the Committee 
on Finance, our modest, senior senator, your guest of 
honor tonight, Boies Penrose. \ 

William McKinley devoted many weary nights \ 
and days and months to the preparation of his tariff" 
bill. He submitted to the House an elaborate report, \ 
explaining, in great detail, all its provisions. Upon the 
floor of the House there was almost endless discussion 
of the bill and scores of amendments were offered. 

In the present Congress our Democratic friends 
forced through the House a bill affecting billions of 
capital, millions of workingmen, and many millions of 
government revenues. It had been hastily thrown to- 
gether. There was no committee report explaining its 
provisions. It was jammed through the House under a 
special rule which out-Reeded Reed and out-Cannoned 
Cannon. 

It allowed only two hours to either side for de- 
bate and permitted no amendments whatever to be 
offered. That bill embraced the cotton schedule, the 
steel and iron schedule, and the chemical schedule. Let 



218 

me illustrate its crudeness by a single instance. We 
have had for many years an internal revenue tax of 
$1.20 per gallon upon distilled spirits or proof alcohol. 
To protect that we have an import duty of $2.25 per 
gallon, and upon some compounds containing alcohol, 
even higher duties. Forgetting all about the internal 
revenue, our Democratic statesmen in their bill re- 
duced the import duties in certain paragraphs in the 
chemical schedule, so that the government would have 
lost the internal revenue while the American manu- 
facturer would have been driven out of business and 
thousands of employes thrown out of work, because the 
internal revenue tax upon his products manufactured 
here would have been in many instances more than 10 
times the tariff imposed upon his importing competitor. 
The tariff bills passed by the Democrats at the 
extra session of Congress were so carelessly drawn 
that in many particulars there was great uncertainty 
as to what articles were covered by their provisions 
and no living expert could estimate their effect upon 
the revenues. They were tariff bills for politics only, 
and there was so much of that article injected into 
some of their provisions that it was thought by some 
that the President would not dare refuse to sign them. 
Fortunately we have in the White House another no- 
ble son of Ohio, who puts principle above political or 
personal advantage, and just as those monstrosities of 
legislation would have been vetoed by William Mc- 
Kinley they were vetoed by our wise and patriotic 
President, William H. Taft. 

President McKinley would have vetoed the pro- 
vision for the recall of judges, just as President Taft 
vetoed it in the case of Arizona. He had great respect 
for our courts and believed in maintaining their inde- 



219 

pendence. He never would have agreed that they 
should be placed in a position of constant fear of of- 
fending corporate managers or political bosses, re- 
quiring them to trim their sails and adjust their de- 
cisions to temporary gusts of popular favor. 

Taking advantage of the popular sentiment in 
favor of so amending the federal constitution as to pro- 
vide for the election of United States senators by direct 
vote of the people, the Democrats in Congress, con- 
trolled by the south, have inseparably interwoven with 
that proposition another amendment taking away the 
power which, from the foundation of this government, 
has been vested in Congress, to regulate the election of 
both senators and representatives. President McKin- 
ley would not have agreed to that. He agreed with 
Thomas Jefferson that the nation which has not the 
right to preserve the purity and freedom of election of 
its highest legislative body may easily be dissolved; 
and as far back as 1879 he declared that, 'If the Con- 
stitution is to be ignored; if free and honest elections 
can not be held everywhere throughout the country, 
free government is as effectively overthrown as if it 
had been done by the sword.' The Democratic measure 
now pending proposes not merely to ignore, but abso- 
lutely to repeal, that constitutional provision. Presi- 
dent McKinley, if he were here now, would certainly 
favor the Bristow amendment, which limits the change 
in the Constitution to a simple provision for the elec- 
tion of senators by the people, leaving to Congress the 
power it already has to protect those elections from 
fraud and corruption. 

If we except Washington and Lincoln, there has 
been no president under whose administration so much 
of history was made as that of William McKinley. The 



220 
map of the world was changed. The flag was planted 
in another hemisphere, there to remain the symbol of 
law, of progress, and of peace, and to wave in blessing 
over peoples who had long been oppressed. Hawaii 
and Tutuila were annexed. As a result of the war with 
Spain, we acquired Porto Rico, the Philippines and 
Guam, and Cuba was set free. Difficult and delicate 
international questions of the utmost importance were 
handled with consummate skill and wonderful suc- 
cess. The task of tranquillizing and governing our new 
possessions was successfully accomplished. During 
these strenuous times the eight-hour law, which he had 
advocated in Congress, did not apply to the president, 
whose labors frequently continued beyond the midnight 
hour. None who knew him in those trying days can 
ever forget that in the midst of his cares and troubles 
and responsibilities he never for one instant failed to 
display, the wonderful gentleness, exquisite courtesy 
and infinite patience which characterized his whole 
life, or to bestow upon his aged mother and invalid 
wife that tender, lovi..^ care the memory of which is a 
precious legacy to every American citizen. 

The world is better because William McKinley 
lived in it, and mankind is lifted to a higher plane in 
contemplation of his example in the face of death. 

Time will not dim the lustre of his achievements, 
but in the ever-lengthening vista of receding years the 
figure of William McKinley will stand forth more and 
more prominent in his country's history. 

The light of a life, so pure, so loving, and so in 
touch with our common humanity will shine forever 
and influence for good the government of nations, and 
the character of men, until onward years shall cease to 
roll, and time into eternity shall merge. 




Courtesy, The Courtney Studio, 
Canton, Ohio. 

THE McKINLEY MONU^IENT, CANTON, OHIO. 

(Rear view.) 

THE BODIES OF McKINLEY AND MRS. McKlNLKV 

REST IX A TOMB OF MARBLE IN 

THE INTERIOR. 



WILLIAM McKINLEY 

Major Charles R. Miller 

This address was delivered at a tri-county banquet 
at Bellevue, Ohio, held on McKinley Day, January 
29th, 1908. 

Among the speakers were Judge John H. Doyle and 
Hubert B. Fuller. 

Toastmaster, Sol M. Wolf, introduced the speaker. 

+ + + 

"As thrills of long hushed tone 

Live in the viol, so our souls grow fine 
With keen vibrations from the touch divine 
Of noble natures gone." 

We find it written on the pages of our National 
History that on the 29th day of January, 1843, in the 
Town of Niles, in the State of Ohio, there was born a 
son — the father, a furnace master, the mother, a noble 
Christian woman. We then read of the child rapidly 
passing from the age of boyhood to that of manhood; 
his conduct marked only by his observation of the 
Divine rule: "Honor thy father and mother in the 
days of thy youth." 

Voices of discontent are heard in the land. Grim 
war stalks about, leaving death and carnage to mark 
its pathway. 'Tis then, our young man deserts the 
hearthstone of his youth, to join in the defense of his 
country's cause. The rapidly shifting scenes of war 
disclose to our view, a host of tired and hungry men in 
line of battle. Suddenly a shout goes up! We see 
amid the shower of shot and shell a wagon laden with 
provisions winding its way to the front. Antietam 
was not lost, and the young commissary sergeant was 
made a lieutenant. Again, in the beautiful valley of 

223 



224 

the Shenandoah when General Early had driven back 
the shattered and broken lines of blue, our young lieu- 
tenant was the first to rally and reform the Union lines, 
that the matchless ride of Sheridan from Winchester 
might not be in vain. General Early, the victorious, 
became the vanquished, and our lieutenant, a captain. 
As the distinguished ex-senator from Nebraska has so 
beautifully said: 

"The years that others gave to educational pur- 
suits he gave to his country. His Alma Mater was the 
tented field. He graduated in a class of heroes. His 
diploma bears the same signature as does the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation." 

Enlisted a private, honorably discharged a major, 
our young man, now in the fullness of manhood, takes 
up the duties of peace. 

In the halls of the Nation's Congress we hear his 
voice raised to advocate the cause of our national de- 
velopment, independence and honor, but no voice in all 
the land is raised to question his fair name. 

Then a national gathering of the great men of 
the Republican party is called, and we next see our 
hero silently treading the wine-press alone, shaping 
into words the loyal thoughts which enabled him to 
say: 

"I cannot consistently, with my own 
views of my personal integrity, consent or 
seem to consent, to permit my name to be 
used as a candidate before this convention ; 
I could not respect myself if I could find it in 
my heart to do, or permit to be done, that 
which could be proven as a suspicion that I 
wavered in loyalty to Ohio, or my devotion 
to the chief of her choice, and the chief of 
mine. I do request, I demand that no dele- 
gate who would not cast reflection upon me, 
shall cast a ballot for me." 



225 

The thrill of those electrical words, which marked 
the greatness of him who was great enough to thrust 
aside ambition, that his loyalty and purity might not 
be questioned, had scarcely ceased, when we find him 
at Atlanta, boldly calling upon the men of the South 
to aid in maintaining the principles of protection. 
Summoned from Atlanta to the sickbed of a wife, to 
whom his devotion had been without precedent, he 
again throws aside ambition and political prominence, 
that he might nurse her back to life. 

Rapidly the years now pass and more quickly the 
scenes are shifted. Defeated for Congress, but nomi- 
nated and elected Governor of Ohio, and permanent 
chairman of the great convention at Minneapolis, and 
again the scenes of Chicago are repeated. His tri- 
umphal tour from state to state that fall was without 
a parallel in our history. Again nominated for Gov- 
ernor and elected by a phenomenal majority, and we 
are led up to the crowning event, the St. Louis Con- 
vention. 

Can one ever forget the mighty wave of applause 
which echoed and re-echoed throughout that vast hall, 
reaching every portion of our land, when the senator 
from Ohio let fall the name of him of whom we speak? 
Was there ever another such a campaign? Visiting 
delegations without number, each greeted by the man 
of the hour, with voice so quiet and speech so master- 
ful, that the pulse of the nation became quiet and soon 
beat in unison with him. Labor was not crucified 
upon a cross of gold, but our factories were re-opened 
giving employment to our own people and the silver 
of the world was coined at home. 

In the four preceding years the memory of which 
now lingers as an unpleasant dream, factories became 



226 

silent, investments shrank, pale faced men walked the 
streets in search of employment, young heads became 
prematurely white, whole families went hungry to bed, 
and homes and reason were lost, but the factories of 
Europe were busy, and fleet ships landed on our shores 
the products of foreign factories that our own people 
should have made. Distress and want were every- 
where. 

A patient and long suffering people spoke in no 
uncertain voice, and our hero, who had always ad- 
vocated the cause of national development, independ- 
ence and honor, was elected President. Congress was 
convened in 15 days after his inauguration, and in 
spite of an adverse majority in the Senate the Dingley 
Tariff Bill was passed. The fires were re-kindled in 
the factories, capital was reassured, men no longer 
went hungry to bed, and faith again heard the rustling 
of returning prosperity. Everywhere men became 
happy in their employment; the music of the shuttle 
as it traveled back and forth, made harmony with the 
deep and ponderous bass of the steam hammer, and 
the only cloud upon the horizon was the smoke from 
the busy furnaces and factories. The business world 
became active with new enterprise. Railroads were 
rebuilt and new lines projected. The silence of the 
night was broken by the rolling of vast caravans of 
freight on their way to the seaboard for shipment to 
foreign markets, and the promises to the American 
people were redeemed. 

Then came the Spanish War. Cuba was liberated 
from the domination of an effete monarchy. Porto 
Rico became a happy and prosperous country, dotted 
all over with American school houses. Anarchy and 
insurrection were suppressed in the Philippines and 



227 
the largest measure of civil government possible es- 
tablished. 

Next came the Chinese insurrection, and the 
United States, first to scale the walls of Peking, was 
the first to dictate the policy of retirement, and 
through its invincible arms and matchless diplomacy 
became a world-wide power, and the markets of the 
world were open to the products of our manufactories. 

No other executive since the time of Lincoln has 
been called upon to confront so many and difficult 
problems, and no executive in our history has handled 
the problems of his administration with more skill 
and masterful tact and Christian spirit, than he of 
whom we speak. Surely peace, contentment, and hap- 
piness seemed about to dawn upon our people, for, as 
was said at Buffalo, "Our victories, however great in 
war, were none the less in peace." That splendid re- 
view of the past and magnificent pronouncement of a 
policy for the future, which now reads, in the light of 
subsequent events, as a benediction, had scarcely been 
completed when the assassin's bullet struck down its 
author, the most universally beloved of all the nation. 

All the world stood still and prayed that this cup 
might pass from us, but it was God's way, and Presi- 
dent McKinley passed from among us. A kindly 
Christian gentleman, a great statesman, a patriotic 
citizen, a man of the people, a man among men, dying 
as he lived, "in the fear of the Lord," passed to his 
reward. 

Never before in the history of nations had man- 
kind so universally mourned. Never before did men 
so universally join in the singing of a Christian hymn. 
Never before had the great nations of the world stood 
still, as a coffin was carried to the grave. 



228 

We may not be permitted to part the curtains of 
the future and see what Providence has in store in 
the forward movement of nations, for this great peo- 
ple, united as never before by the death of a great 
President, but whatever it may be, it is safe to predict 
that our flag will be found in the van, but little lower 
than the cross. 

We thank God for the life that has been lived, for 
the example that has been set, for the friendship that 
has been formed, for the memory that remains, and 
for that other great son of the nation who has the 
courage of conviction to carry out the principles and 
policies of the dead — that William McKinley may live 
forever in the hearts of his countrymen. 



FEB 1 1913 



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